THE  ORCHESTRAL 
INSTRUMENTS 

AND  WHAT  THEY  DO 

DANIEL   GREGORY  MASON 


— . 

LIBRARY    1 


r<? 


The  Orchestral  Instruments 
and  What  They  Do 


A  Primer  for  Concert-Goers 


BY 


DANIEL  GREGORY  MASON 


NEW  YORK 
THE  BAKER  &  TAYLOR  CO. 

1909 


Copyright.  1908,  by  THE  H.  W.  GRAY  Co. 


Copyright.  1909,  by  THE  H.  W.  GRAY  Co. 


FIRST  PUBLISHED  IN  THE  NEW   MUSIC  REVIEW 


PREFATORY   NOTE. 


The  object  of  this  little  book  is  to  assist 
the  concert-goer  in  recognizing  the  various 
orchestral  instruments,  both  by  sight  and  by 
hearing,  and  to  stimulate  his  perception  of 
the  thousand  and  one  beauties  of  orchestral 
coloring.  As  a  help  to  the  eye,  the  descrip- 
tions of  the  appearance  of  the  instruments  are 
supplemented  by  pictures;  in  order  to  help 
recognition  by  ear,  the  divers  registers  of  in- 
struments are  discussed  with  some  particular- 
ity; while  it  is  hoped  that  the  many  figures 
showing  excerpts  from  standard  works  will 
sharpen  the  reader's  attentiveness  to  delicate 
shades  of  tonal  effect. 

These  excerpts  should  serve  only  as  an  in- 
troduction to  full  scores  of  a  few  standard 
works,  which  can  now  be  bought  at  moderate 
prices  in  miniature  size,  and  which  are  of  the 
greatest  use  in  defining  and  regulating  the  act 
of  listening,  even  for  those  who  can  read  music 
only  in  the  most  tentative,  stumbling  way. 
Suggestions  are  given  in  Section  XX 
as  to  the  use  of  scores  by  those  who 
can  do  no  more  than  count  time,  recognize 
accents,  and  see  whether  the  tune  is  "going  up 
or  down." 


There  are  few  persons  fond  enough  of  music 
to  attend  orchestral  concerts  who  would  not 
find  in  a  few  months  their  powers  of  musical 
enjoyment  doubled  or  trebled  by  the  study  of 
scores.  Especially  in  large  cities  where  sym- 
phonic works  may  often  be  heard  more  than 
once  in  one  season,  the  study  of  scores  be- 
tween performances,  combined  with  a  sharp 
scrutiny  of  the  orchestra  during  the  concerts,  is 
capable  of  increasing  appreciation  of  the  music 
to  a  remarkable  degree. 

The  illustrations  of  the  orchestral  instru- 
ments were  obtained  through  the  kind 
cooperation  of  Mr.  Walter  Damrosch,  to 
whom  the  author  desires  to  express  his 
thanks.  Grateful  acknowledgement  is  also 
made  of  the  trouble  taken  by  the  following 
gentlemen  in  sitting  for  the  photographs  : 
Mr.  David  Mannes  and  Mr.  Rudolf  Rissland, 
violin  ;  Mr.  Remain  Verney,  viola  ;  Mr.  Paul 
Kefer, violoncello;  Mr.  L.  E.  Manoly, double- 
bass  ;  Mr.  B.  Fanelli,  harp ;  Mr.  G.  Barrere, 
flute  ;  Mr.  Albert  de  Busscher,  oboe ;  Mr. 
Irving  Cohn,  English  horn  ;  Mr.  H.  L.  Leroy, 
clarinet ;  Mr.  Louis  Haenisch,  bass  clarinet ; 
Mr.  August  Mesnard,  bassoon  ;  Mr.  Richard 
Kohl,  contrabass  clarinet ;  Mr.  Herman 
Hand,  French  hora  ;  Mr.  Max  Bleyer,  trum- 
pet ;  Mr.  Sam  Tilkin,  trombone ;  Mr.  Fred. 
Geib,  tuba;  Mr  J.  F.  Sietz,  kettledrums, 
and  Messrs.  George  Wagner,  Emil  Honnig 
and  Fred.  Rothery  for  the  instruments  of 
percussion. 


CONTENTS 


PACK 

CHAPTER  I.     The  Orchestra  as  a  Whole  7 
SECTION     I.    The  Nature  of  Sound    -        -  7 
SECTION    II.     Constitution  of  the  Orchestra  12 
SECTION  III.     A  Bird's-eye  View  of  the  Or- 
chestra       -        -        -  16 

CHAPTER  II.     The  Stringed  Instruments  20 

SECTION     IV.    The  Stringed  Instruments  -  20 

SECTION       V.     The  Violin  -  21 

SECTION     VI.     The  Viola       ...  29 

SECTION    VII.     The  Violoncello          -        -  31 

SECTION  VIII.    The  Double-bass    -        -  35 

CHAPTER  III.     The  Wood-wind  Instru- 

7Q 

ERRATA 

Page  18,  line  29.     For  "between,"  read  "below." 
Page  38,  line  19.     For  "fastened  to  pedals,"  etc.,  read 
"controlled   by  pedals   operated    by    the   feet,    by 
which  they  can  be  so  shortened  that  all  tones  are 
available." 

CHAPTER  IV.     The  brass  instruments    -  04 

SECTION    XIV.     The  Brass  Instruments    -  64 

SECTION     XV.    The  Horn     -  64 

SECTION    XVI.    The  Trumpet                     -  74 

SECTION  XVII.    The  Trombones  and  Tuba  77 

CHAPTER  V.      The    Percussion    Instru- 
ments      -       -  83 
SECTION  XVIII.  The  Percussion  Instruments      83 

CHAPTER  VI.     Orchestral  Combinations     86 
SECTION  XIX.     Orchestral  Combinations    -      86 

CHAPTER  VII.    Scores  and  Score-reading     95 
SECTION  XX.     Scores  and  Score-reading    -      95 

APPENDIX.     The  Orchestral  Chart  -       -    100 


THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 

AND 

WHAT  THEY  DO 


CHAPTER  I. 

I.— THE    NATURE    OF    SOUND. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  the  physical 
scientists,  the  orchestra  is  nothing  but  a  large 
and  very  complicated  machine  for  setting  the 
air  in  motion.  All  sound,  they  tell  us,  is  pro- 
duced only  by  pulsations  or  puffs  of  air,  and 
can  move  through  space  only  because  air  is 
elastic  and  imparts  its  motion  from  one  set  of 
particles  to  another.  Moreover,  this  air-motion 
is  not,  properly  speaking,  sound  at  all,  but  only 
gives  rise  to  sensations  of  sound  when  it  strikes 
upon  the  nervous  mechanisms  in  our  ears.  If 
it  were  not  for  our  ears,  the  violinists  might 
draw  their  bows,  and  the  trumpeters  blow 
themselves  breathless,  and  the  drummers  beat 
away  for  dear  life,  and  there  would  be  no 
sound  at  all — only  a  formidable  atmospheric 
commotion. 

But  fortunately  we  have  ears, — and  ears 
capable  of  a  most  marvellous  range,  delicacy, 
and  accuracy  of  hearing ;  and  by  their  help  we 
can  pick  out  many  different  kinds  of  vibration 
in  the  air,  and  get  from  them  as  many  different 
kinds  of  sensation.  For  example :  pulsations  of 
air  that  come  irregularly,  at  varying  periods  of 
time,  give  us  tl.e  sensation  we  call  "noise" ; 
pulsations  that  come  at  regular  intervals  we 
hear  as  "musical  tones,"  and  this  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  they  come  so  fast  that  we  could  not 
possibly  count  them,  or  even  hear  them  indi- 
vidually (middle  C,  for  example,  is  produced 
by  no  less  than  two  hundred  and  fifty-six  pulsa- 
tions per  second).  The  slower  the  puffs  of  air, 
the  "lower"  is  the  tone  we  hear,  the  more  rapid 


8        THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 

the  puffs,  the  "higher"  the  tone.  The  "lowest" 
tone  we  can  hear  is  produced  by  about  sixteen 
pulsations  a  second,  the  "highest"  has  about 
thirty-eight  thousand — an  almost  inconceivable 
rapidity.  Between  these  two  extremes  there 
are  eleven  thousand  distinguishable  tones,  of 
which,  however,  we  use  only  ninety  in  music. 
If  the  pulsations  are  weak,  the  tone  is  "soft" ; 
if  they  are  strong,  it  is  "loud." 

Furthermore,  the  ear  is  able  to  hear  a  whole 
series  of  pulsations,  of  varying  rapidity,  at  once, 
and  as  constituting  one  "tone" — this  tone,  of 
course,  being  a  compound  of  many  simple  tones 
which  we  fuse  together.  On  this  remarkable 
power  depends  our  sense  of  differences  in  what 
we  call  "quality  of  tone,"  or  "timbre"  and  our 
ability  to  distinguish  tones  of  the  same  pitch 
(»".  e.,  high  or  low  position)  played  by  different 
instruments  such  as  a  violin,  a  clarinet,  an  oboe, 
a  trumpet.  This  is  a  matter  so  important  to 
our  understanding  of  the  orchestra  that  it 
should  be  studied  before  we  go  farther. 

Many  of  the  elastic  materials  used  to  produce 
tones  by  their  vibrations,  as  for  instance  a  piano 
string,  have  the  peculiarity  of  producing  a 
whole  series  of  vibrations,  of  varying  rates  of 
rapidity,  at  one  and  the  same  time.  This  de- 
pends on  two  facts:  first,  that  the  shorter  the 
vibrating  section  of  string  the  more  rapid  are 
its  vibrations ;  second,  that  the  piano  string  in 
question,  when  struck  by  the  hammer,  starts  to 
vibrating  not  only  as  a  whole,  but  also  in  seg- 
ments of  halves,  thirds,  quarters,  fifths,  sixths, 
sevenths,  eighths,  etc.,  of  its  entire  length.  Fig- 
ure I.  shows  graphically  these  different  modes 
of  vibration,  which  for  clearness  we  here  repre- 
sent separately,  but  which,  it  must  be  under- 


THE  NATURE  OF  SOUND 


stood,  actually  take  place  simultaneously,  hard 
as  such  a  complicated  kind  of  motion  is  for  us 
to  imagine. 

FIGURE  I. 

EIGHT  MODES  OF  VIBRATION    IN  A  SINGLE  STRING. 


ist  "  Partial," 
called  "fundamental.' 


128  Vibr. 


2nd  Partial. 


256  Vibr. 


3rd  Partial. 


384  Vibr. 


4th  Partial. 


512  Vibr. 


5th  Partial. 


640  Vibr. 


6th  Partial. 


768  Vibr. 


7th  Partial. 


896  Vibr. 


8th  Partial. 


1024  Vibr. 


10      THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 

The  result  of  this  peculiarity  of  our  piano 
string  is  evidently  that  it  gives  forth,  not  a  sim- 
ple tone,  as  we  are  accustomed  to  think,  but  a 
whole  series  of  "partial  tones,"  as  theorists  call 
them.  Let  us  suppose  that  the  simplest  mode 
of  vibration,  that  of  the  string  as  a  whole,  pro- 
duces 128  pulsations  per  second,  as  is  actually 
the  case  with  the  piano  string  which  gives  forth 
the  C  an  octave  below  middle  C.  Then  the 
vibration  by  halves,  occurring  twice  as  fast, 
will  give  forth  the  tone  middle  C ;  the  vibration 
by  thirds,  thrice  as  fast,  will  give  forth  the  G 
above  it ;  the  vibration  by  fourths,  four  times  as 
fast,  will  give  forth  the  C  above  that;  and  so 
on.  The  whole  series  of  "partial  tones"  up  to 
the  eighth,  for  this  particular  string,  are 
shown  in  the  column  to  the  right,  in  Figure  I, 
together  with  their  vibration-rates  per  second. 

But  why,  the  reader  will  ask,  do  we  not 
hear  all  these  "partial"  tones  individually? 
There  are  two  reasons.  One  is  that  the  higher 
we  go  the  fainter  become  the  partial-tones, 
since  the  smaller  the  segment  of  the  string  the 
less  is  the  amount  or  "amplitude"  of  the  vibra- 
tion, on  which  depends  the  loudness  of  the  tone. 
(This  is  clearly  shown  in  the  figure.)  Hence 
the  first  partial,  the  "fundamental  tone,"  which 
is  all  we  are  ordinarily  aware  of  hearing,  is 
much  louder  and  more  prominent  than  any  of 
the  others.  Indeed,  although  theoretically  the 
partials  continue  ad  infinitum,  after  the  eighth 
they  are  so  weak  we  need  not  consider  them. 
The  second  reason  is  the  overpowering  influ- 


THE  NATURE  OF  SOUND  11 

ence  of  habit.  As  all  stringed  instruments  pro- 
duce the  whole  series  of  partials  together,  we 
so  habitually  hear  them  all  that  we  are  unable 
to  distinguish  them  one  from  another.  With 
training,  however,  sensitive  ears  are  able  to 
pick  out  the  first  few  partials  easily  and  ac- 
curately. 

But  if  we  do  not  hear  the  partials  as  quantity, 
so  to  speak,  we  do,  all  of  us,  hear  them  as 
quality;  for  on  them  depends  the  peculiar  tim- 
bre of  each  kind  of  tone.  On  account  of  me- 
chanical differences,  some  instruments  have 
more,  or  more  prominent,  upper  partials  than 
others.  The  general  rule  here  is  that  the 
greater  the  number  of  partials  the  "richer," 
"fuller,"  more  "brilliant"  is  the  tone,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  violin ;  whereas  the  fewer,  or  faint- 
er, the  partials,  the  "purer,"  "quieter,"  "sim- 
pler" is  the  tone,  as  in  the  case  of  the  lower 
tones  of  the  flute,  which  have  hardly  any  but 
the  fundamental  tones.  The  clarinet  owes  its 
individual  quality  to  the  fact  that  it  has  only 
the  odd-numbered  partials,  the  first,  third,  fifth, 
etc.  The  pungency  of  the  tone  of  the  oboe 
depends  on  its  possessing  high  partials  of  con- 
siderable strength.  Other  instances  of  the 
effect  of  partial  tones  will  meet  us  as  we  go  on. 

We  have  seen  then,  thus  far,  that  all  musical 
tones  are  produced  by  regularly  periodic  pulsa- 
tions of  the  air,  set  up  by  the  vibrations  of  elas- 
tic bodies,  whether  the  strings  of  violins  and 
the  like,  the  air-columns  of  wind  instruments, 
or  the  stretched  membranes  of  drums  or  the 


12      THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 

metal  of  cymbals.  We  have  seen  that  loudness 
depends  on  the  force  of  these  pulsations,  and 
that  pitch  depends  on  their  relative  rapidity. 
Finally,  we  have  seen  that  since  almost  every 
elastic  body  vibrates  in  a  highly  complex  fash- 
ion, series  of  vibrations  of  more  than  one  kind 
generally  reach  our  ears  from  any  one  source ; 
and  that  on  the  precise  nature  of  these  series 
depends  what  we  call  the  quality  of  the  partic- 
ular tone. 

II— CONSTITUTION    OF    THE    ORCHESTRA. 

The  instruments  used  in  the  modern  orches- 
tra may  be  divided  into  three  classes  or  fam- 
ilies, according  to  the  various  modes  in  which 
their  tones  are  produced.  The  most  important 
group  comprises  the  stringed  instruments 
(often  called  simply  "the  Strings"),  in  which 
stretched  strings  are  the  vibrating  bodies.  The 
second  group  comprises  the  wind  instruments 
("the  Wind"),  in  which  the  vibration  arises  in 
columns  of  air.  The  third  group  comprises  the 
percussion  instruments  (sometimes  called  "the 
Battery"),  in  which  stretched  membranes  or 
metallic  bodies  are  the  sources  of  vibration. 
These  general  groups  may  be  further  sub- 
divided as  shown  in  the  following  complete  list 
of  instruments,  in  which  those  seldom  used  in 
the  orchestra  are  marked  with  asterisks.  The 
figures  in  parenthesis  show  the  number  of  each 
instrument  used  in  the  New  York  Symphony 
Orchestra. 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  ORCHESTRA    13 

CLASSIFIED    LIST    OP    ORCHESTRAL    INSTRUMENTS. 
I— STRINGED    INSTRUMENTS. 

(a)  Instruments  played  with  a  bow : 

Violin  (34 — 18  1st  violins,  16  2d  violins) 
Viola  (12). 
Violoncello  (12). 

Double-bass  (or  contrabass),  (10). 
(6)  Instruments    the    strings    of    which    are 
plucked : 

Harp  (i). 
*Guitar. 
*Mandoline. 

(c)  Instruments    the    strings    of    which    are 
struck  by  hammers  : 
*Pianoforte. 

II— WIND  INSTRUMENTS. 

(a)  Instruments  sounded  through  a  hole  in  the 
side  of  the  tube : 

Flute  (2). 
Piccolo  (i). 

(b)  Instruments  played  with  a  double  reed: 

Oboe  (2). 

English  Horn  (or  alto  oboe),  (i). 
Bassoon  (3). 
*Contra-bassoon(or  double  bassoon ),(i) 

(c)  Instruments  played  with  a  single  reed: 

Clarinet  (2). 
*Corno  di  bassetto. 

Bass  Clarinet  (i). 
*  Saxophone. 

(d)  Instruments  played  with  a  mouthpiece: 

Trumpet  (4). 
Cornet. 


14       THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 

Horn  (4). 
Trombone  (3). 
*Ophicleide. 
Tuba  (i). 

(e)  Instruments  with  keyboards: 
*Pipe  organ. 
*Reed  organ. 

Ill — PERCUSSION  INSTRUMENTS. 

(a)  Tone    produced    by  the  vibration    of    a 
stretched  membrane : 

Kettle-drums  (Timpani),  (2). 
*Bass  drum,     1      (4  players  for  other 
*Side  drum,      L        percussion  instru- 
*Tambourine,   j         ments). 

(&)  Tone  produced  by  the  vibration  of  metallic 
bodies : 
*Bells. 

*Glockenspiel. 
*Triangle. 
Cymbals. 

*Gong  (Tam-tam). 
*Castanets. 

Summary  of  players  in  the  New  York  Sym- 
phony Orchestra: 

Strings 68 

Harp i 

Wind 25 

Percussion  5 

99 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  this 
vast  army  of  instruments  is  always,  or  even 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  ORCHESTRA    15 

usually  employed.  Most  of  the  important  sym- 
phonic works  of  the  nineteenth  century  can  be 
performed  by  an  orchestra  made  up  as  fol- 
lows. (The  instruments  are  put  down  in  the 
order  in  which  they  occur  in  the  full  "score" 
from  which  the  conductor  reads)  : 


Wood  wind 


Brass  and 


Percussion 


Strings 


2  Flutes,  i  interchangeable  with 
2  Oboes.  [piccolo. 

2  Clarinets. 

1  Bass  Clarinet. 

2  Bassoons. 

1  Contrabassoon. 
4  Horns. 

2  Trumpets. 

3  Trombones. 

1  Tuba. 

2  Kettle-drums. 
First  Violins. 
Second  Violins. 
Violas. 
Violoncellos. 
.Double-basses. 


Some  of  the  most  imperishable  symphonies 
call  for  even  fewer  instruments.  Beethoven's 
Fifth  Symphony,  for  example,  requires  no  bass 
clarinet  and  no  tuba,  and  only  two  horns.  The 
lovely  Andante  of  his  Pastoral  Symphony  calls 
for  only  the  following  instruments,  in  addition 
to  the  usual  strings:  Two  flutes,  two  oboes, 
two  clarinets,  two  bassoons,  and  two  horns. 
This  modest  combination,  called  the  "small  or- 
chestra" (distinguished  from  the  "grand  or- 
chestra" by  lacking  trumpets  and  drums),  is 
also  used  by  him  in  the  Larghetto  of  the  Second 


16       THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 

Symphony  and  in  the  Allegretto  of  the  Eighth. 
It  has  also  been  used  most  effectively  by  some 
modern  composers,  as  for  instance  by  Dvorak 
in  his  charming  Suite  for  Small  Orchestra, 
Opus  39. 

The  modern  tendency,  on  the  other  hand, 
initiated  by  Berlioz  and  fostered  by  Liszt  and 
Wagner,  has  been  constantly  to  increase  the 
number  and  variety  of  the  instruments.  Wag- 
ner, in  "Die  Walkiire,"  besides  the  usual 
strings,  calls  for  two  piccolos,  two  flutes,  three 
oboes,  one  English  horn,  three  clarinets,  one 
bass  clarinet,  three  bassoons,  eight  horns,  four 
trumpets,  one  bass  trumpet,  four  trombones, 
one  to  four  tubas,  two  pairs  of  kettle-drums, 
one  pair  of  cymbals,  one  bass-drum,  and  six 
harps.  Berlioz  had  what  amounted  almost  to 
a  mania  for  monster  orchestras.  In  his  Re- 
quiem we  find  him  prescribing  sixteen  trom- 
bones, sixteen  trumpets,  five  ophicleides,  twelve 
horns,  eight  pairs  of  kettle-drums,  two  bass- 
drums,  and  a  gong,  in  addition  to  the  usual  re- 
sources. "Prince  Metternich,"  he  tells  us  in 
his  Memoirs,  "said  to  me  one  day:  'Are  you 
not  the  man,  monsieur,  who  composes  music 
for  five  hundred  performers?'  To  which  I  re- 
plied: 'Not  always,  monseigneur;  I  sometimes 
write  for  four  hundred  and  fifty.' " 

III — A  BIRD'S- BYE  VIEW  OF  THE  ORCHESTRA. 

Let  us  now  take  a  general  look  at  the  orches- 
tra and  its  arrangement  on  the  stage,  before  we 
examine  in  more  detail  the  separate  instru- 
ments. 


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As  the  conductor  stands  on  his  platform, 
with  his  back  to  the  audience,  we  see  extend- 
ing quite  across  the  stage,  at  his  left  hand,  the 
first  violins,  sitting  two  at  a  desk,  their  leader, 
at  the  first  desk  on  the  outside,  being  called  the 
"Concert-master."  Similarly  extended  at  the 
conductor's  right  are  the  second  violins. 
Grouped  just  behind  the  first  violins  are  the 
violoncellos;  behind  the  second  violins  sit  the 
violas,  the  slightly  larger  instruments  being 
hardly  distinguishable,  at  a  distance,  from  the 
violins.  The  double-basses  form  a  half  semi- 
circle about  the  left-hand  edge  of  the  orchestra, 
placed  well  back,  so  that  their  ponderous  sound 
will  not  drown  out  the  delicate  tones  of  the 
wood-wind. 

The  wood-wind  instruments  are  usually 
grouped  in  the  middle  of  the  entire  body,  di- 
rectly in  front  of  the  conductor.  It  is  some- 
what difficult  to  distinguish  them  by  eye  alone, 
particularly  the  clarinets  and  oboes,  which  look 
much  alike,  and  are  both  blown  into  from  the 
end,  unlike  the  flute,  which  is  held  sideways 
and  blown  across.  The  clarinets,  however,  are 
somewhat  larger  than  the  oboes,  and  end  in  a 
more  flaring  bell;  their  mouthpieces,  too,  are 
larger,  in  spite  of  containing  a  single  instead 
of  a  double  reed.  The  bassoons,  much  longer 
than  either,  and  extending  down  between  the 
knees  of  the  player,  can  be  identified  unmis- 
takably by  their  curved  tubular  mouthpieces, 
extending  out  sideways. 

The  horn-players  usually  sit  behind  the 
wood-wind  group  and  somewhat  to  the  left 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  ORCHESTRA    19 

of  the  stage.  The  instruments,  of  polished 
brass,  the  tube  made  into  a  circle  with  its  very 
flaring  mouth  facing  sideways,  are  not  hard  to 
identify.  The  trumpets,  looking  not  unlike 
large  cornets,  are  near  them.  On  the  outer 
edge  of  the  orchestra,  at  the  right,  are  the  trom- 
bones, recognizable  by  their  slides,  which  the 
players  draw  in  and  out  to  shorten  or  lengthen 
the  tubes.  And  that  enormous  brass  instru- 
ment which  seems  as  if  it  would  drag  the  poor 
player  to  the  ground  by  its  sheer  weight,  and 
which  is  evidently  most  exhausting  to  play, 
what  is  that?  It  is  the  tuba,  the  bass  of  the 
trombones. 

Finally,  there  are  the  kettle-drums,  at  the 
very  back,  between  the  tuba-trombone  group 
and  the  last  of  the  double-basses,  and  some- 
times, next  them,  the  great  bass-drum  and  the 
brazen  cymbals. 


CHAPTER  II. 

IV— THE   STRINGED   INSTRUMENTS. 

The  choir  of  stringed  instruments,  consisting 
of  first  violins,  second  violins,  violas,  violon- 
cellos, and  double-basses,  is  by  far  the  most 
important  single  department  of  the  orchestra. 

The  reasons  for  its  supremacy  are  many.  In 
the  first  place,  it  commands  a  greater  range  of 
tones  than  any  other  group,  covering  no  less 
than  six  octaves.  Secondly,  its  facility  of  exe- 
cution is  greater.  Violins  and  violas,  and  even 
violoncellos,  can  play  at  almost  any  rate  of 
speed,  and  can  produce  with  perfect  clearness 
the  most  complicated  runs  and  passages;  and 
unlike  the  wind  instruments  they  can  hold  a 
single  tone  as  long  as  may  be  desired.  In  the 
third  place,  the  strings  can  play  with  any  de- 
gree of  force  from  the  boldest  fortissimo  to  the 
merest  breath  of  pianissimo.  The  wind  instru- 
ments cannot  command  anything  like  such  a 
delicate  immateriality  of  tone,  and  when  they 
come  in  on  the  final  chord  of  a  piece  ending 
very  softly  often  give  the  hearer  a  slight  shock. 

Bowed  instruments,  furthermore,  can  be 
played  for  any  length  of  time  without  fatiguing 
the  performer,  while  the  wind  instrument  play- 
ers must  have  frequent  rests  to  regain  their 
breath  and  to  relax  the  muscles  which,  in  play- 
ing such  instruments  as  the  horn,  have  to  be 
contracted  in  a  way  that  soon  becomes  weari- 
some. 


FIRST  VIOLIN 


THE  VIOLIN  21 

The  hearer,  too,  can  stand  more  string-tone 
than  wind-tone.  The  peculiar  timbre  of  such 
instruments  as  the  oboe,  the  clarinet,  the  trum- 
pet, would  grow  cloying  if  we  had  to  listen  to 
it  for  long  stretches  of  time;  the  full,  round, 
and  yet  simple  tone  of  the  violins  is  better 
suited  to  be  "human  nature's  daily  food." 

For  all  these  reasons  the  strings  are  the 
nucleus  of  the  orchestra.  They  may,  for  the 
sake  of  contrast,  give  way  to  the  other  instru- 
ments for  short  periods,  but  they  are  never 
silent  very  long,  and  they  are  themselves  capa- 
ble of  remarkable  variety  without  any  outside 
help. 

V.— THE    VIOLIN. 

The  violin  has  four  strings,  tuned  as  follows : 

FIGURE  III. 
TUNING  AND  RANGE  OF  THE  VIOLIN. 


Range.  Sva .... 

- 


^— ^r^ 

They  are  tuned  by  pegs  set  in  the  neck  of 
the  instrument,  are  pressed  by  the  fingers  of 
the  left  hand  to  change  their  pitch  (this  is 
called  "stopping"),  and  are  set  in  vibration  by 
the  bow  being  drawn  across  them  by  the  right 
hand.  Only  a  small  portion  of  the  tone  comes, 
however,  from  the  strings  themselves.  The 


22      THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 

vibrations  are  carried  from  them,  through  the 
bridge,  into  the  wooden  body  of  the  violin, 
which  is  so  delicately  made  as  to  vibrate  in 
"sympathy,"  producing  the  larger  portion  of 
the  sound.  The  extraordinary  sonority  of  the 
instrument  is  due  to  this  delicacy  of  construc- 
tion. 

The  bridge  over  which  the  strings  pass  is 
arched  in  such  a  way  that  the  bow  can  touch 
any  one  string  without  coming  in  contact  with 
the  others.  This  serves  very  well  with  a  slight 
pressure  such  as  is  used  in  soft  passages;  but 
it  is  impossible  to  play  heavily  on  the  two  mid- 
dle strings,  the  D  and  the  A  strings,  without 
touching  adjacent  strings.  For  this  reason  it 
will  be  found  that  fortissimo  passages  generally 
lie  chiefly  on  the  E  or  the  G  string.  Indeed,  the 
first  string  (E-string)  is  used  so  preponder- 
antly for  melody  that  it  is  often  called  the 
"chanterelle,"  or  "singer."  It  has  been  cal- 
culated that  two-thirds  of  all  the  tones  Mozart 
wrote  for  the  violin  lie  on  the  E-string. 

The  tone  of  this  string  has  a  peculiar  in- 
cisiveness,  a  penetrating  quality  that  makes  it 
easily  heard  above  everything  else  in  fortissimo 
passages  for  the  full  orchestra;  in  pianissimo 
it  is  wonderfully  clear,  pure,  ethereal.  Whether 
loud  or  soft,  it  stands  in  relief  above  the  other 
orchestral  sounds  like  a  thread  of  scarlet  in  a 
mass  of  duller  hues. 

No  small  part  of  the  effectiveness  of  Weber's 
orchestration,  in  his  famous  overtures,  "Eury- 
anthe"  and  "Oberon,"  is  due  to  his  use  of  the 


THE  VIOLIN 
FIGURE  [V. 


23 


Allegro  confuoco. 


(a) 


MENDELSSOHN  : 
Concerto  for  Violin. 


E-string.  An  example  is  shown  in  Figure  IV, 
(a).  For  softer  but  not  less  thrilling  effects 
we  may  turn  to  Mendelssohn,  whose  delicate, 
aristocratic  nature  made  him  sensitive  to  the 
beautiful  clarity  of  this  tone.  (&),  in  Figure 
IV,  shows  the  opening  theme  of  his  Violin 
Concerto,  lying  entirely  on  the  E-string. 

The  second  or  A-string,  and  even  more  the 
third  or  D-string,  are  quieter  and  paler  than  the 
chanterelle.  Nevertheless  they  are  capable  of 
very  lovely  effects,  of  which  Schumann  has 
made  use  in  the  slow  movement  of  his  second 
symphony,  and  Beethoven  in  the  mystical 
Adagio  of  the  Ninth  Symphony  (Figure  V  ). 


24       THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 
FIGURE  V. 

Adagio  espressivo.  SCHUMANN:  Symphony  II. 


Adagio  molto  e  cantabile.  BEETHOVEN  :  Symphony  IX. 


The  fourth  or  G-string  is  not  only  thicker 
than  all  the  others,  but  is  wound  with  wire  to 
make  it  heavier  and  therefore  slower  in  vibra- 
tion. The  result  is  a  remarkable  fulness  of 
tone,  like  that  of  a  rich  contralto  voice.  In 
expression  it  is  intense,  earnest,  impassioned. 
We  are  all  familiar  with  those  moments  when 
the  players,  bending  their  heads  close  to  their 
violins  as  if  caressing  them,  raise  their  bow- 
arms  well  up  to  get  a  free  sweep  across  the 
G-string.  This  effect,  like  all  good  things,  may 
be  abused,  and  every  trivial  "Romance  for 
Violin"  has  its  solo  for  the  fourth  string.  But 
if  the  melody  itself  has  nobility,  it  can  gain 
through  the  massive  sonority  of  this  string  an 
almost  overpowering  intensity  of  expressive- 
ness, especially  when  rendered  by  a  large  num- 
ber of  instruments,  as  will  be  realized  by  re- 
ferring to  the  examples  in  Figure  VI. 


(a) 


Adagio. 


THE  VIOLIN 

FIGURE  VI. 

WAGNBR:  "Lohengrin." 


25 


:E 


•r-*a  i  i 


Mb*: 


(fi)  Sosttnnto  assai. 


WAGNER  :  "  Tannhauser.' 


(c)  Adagio  assai, 


BEBTHOVBN  :  Funeral  March, 
from  Symphony  III. 


(ef)  Adagio  assai. 


Ibid. 


^ggpa 

•J* ^-ffl-af* 


3± 


Chords  of  two,  three,  or  four  tones  may  be 
produced  on  the  violin  by  sweeping  the  bow 
across  several  strings.  A  sustained  tone  cannot 
be  attained,  however,  on  more  than  two  strings 
at  once,  on  account  of  the  arched  shape  of  the 
bridge  already  mentioned.  This  process  of 
playing  chords  of  two  tones,  on  two  strings,  is 
called  double-stopping,  because  the  left  hand 
has  to  press  or  "stop"  two  strings  at  once.  In 
orchestral  music  only  the  easiest  chords  of  this 


26       THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 

kind  are  written,  since  the  desired  effect  of 
full  harmony  can  be  better  obtained  by  dividing 
the  violins  into  two  or  more  groups,  letting 
each  play  one  of  the  desired  tones.  The  indi- 
cation for  this  is  the  Italian  word  "divisi." 

Great  diversity  of  expression  is  possible  to 
the  violin  through  the  various  methods  of  bow- 
ing or  phrasing.  When  a  series  of  tones  is 
played  by  one  movement  of  the  bow  (indicated 
by  putting  a  slur  over  them — see  Figures  IV- 
VI),  we  get  a  smooth  legato,  or  "bound  to- 
gether" effect,  such  as  we  get  with  the  voice 
when  many  tones  are  sung  for  one  syllable. 
When  each  tone  is  given  by  a  separate  bow- 
stroke  the  effect  is  of  animation,  energy,  or 
grandiloquence.  A  peculiar  delicacy  is  gained, 
in  rapid  tempos,  by  the  use  of  the  "arco  sal- 
tando"  or  "flying  bow,"  i.  e,,  the  bow  allowed 
to  leap  up  from  the  string  by  its  own  elasticity. 

The  "tremolo"  is  made  by  moving  the  bow 
back  and  forth  with  great  rapidity  on  the  same 
string  or  pair  of  strings,  and  has  a  mysterious, 
menacing,  or  exciting  quality.  Like  the  G- 
string  solo,  it  is  easily  abused :  in  the  theatrical 
melodrama  the  approach  of  the  villain  is  usu- 
ally accompanied  by  a  tremolo  of  all  the  strings. 
This  device  is  skilfully  used  by  Weber  in  the 
introduction  to  his  "Freischiitz"  overture. 

Instead  of  being  bowed,  the  strings  may  be 
plucked  by  the  finger.  This  is  called  the  "piz- 
zicato"— Italian  for  "plucked."  The  pizzicato 
is  generally  used  either  to  gain  a  certain  in- 
cisiveness  like  that  of  the  percussion  instru- 


SECOND  VIOLIN 


THE  VIOLIN 


27 


merits,  or  to  make  the  tone  more  delicate  and 
immaterial.  It  is  oftener  used  in  accompani- 
ments by  the  lower  strings,  or  for  the  bass,  than 
by  the  first  violin.  Schubert  makes  use  of 
pizzicato  in  the  violins,  violas  and  double- 
basses,  to  accompany  a  solo  by  the  'cellos,  later 
joined  by  the  oboe,  in  a  well-known  passage  in 
the  Andante  of  his  C-major  Symphony  (Figure 
VII). 


FIGURE  VII. 


A  ndante  con  moto. 


SCHUBERT.  Symphony  X. 


In  his  fourth  symphony  Tschaikowsky  makes 
striking  use  of  the  pizzicato  of  all  the  strings 
throughout  the  scherzo. 

The  "mute,"  or  "sordino,"  is  a  little  metal 


28      THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 

clamp  which,  when  placed  upon  the  bridge, 
impedes  the  transmission  of  the  vibrations  into 
the  body  of  the  violin,  thus  making  the  tone  not 
only  softer,  but  different  in  quality — thin, 
veiled,  mysterious.  Gounod  has  made  use  of 
this  peculiar  quality  of  tone  in  the  scene  o$ 
Marguerite's  hallucination  in  prison,  in  his 
"Faust,"  and  Beethoven  has  used  it,  in  the  third 
act  of  "Fidelio,"  for  the  scene  between  Leonore 
and  the  jailer.  Tschaikowsky  uses  it  with 
great  impressiveness  at  the  end  of  his  great 
"Symphonic  Pathetique."  (See  also  Figures 
XII  and  XIII  a.) 

By  placing  his  finger  lightly  on  the  middle 
of  one  of  the  strings,  or  at  the  point  marking 
exactly  one  third,  one  fourth,  one  fifth  of  it, 
etc.,  the  violinist  can  make  it  vibrate  in  certain 
segments  only,  instead  of  as  a  whole,  thus  pro- 
ducing only  certain  "partial  tones"  or  "har- 
monics" (see  Figure  I ,  and  the  explanation 
in  Section  I  of  the  mode  of  vibration  of  a 
string).  These  harmonics  have  a  peculiar 
thinness  and  purity  of  tone,  and  may  be  most 
tellingly  used  in  the  orchestra.  Wagner  thus 
uses  the  high  ghostly  harmonics  of  four  solo 
violins  at  the  beginning  of  his  "Lohengrin" 
Prelude. 

There  are  certain  other  peculiar  effects  ob- 
tainable by  special  ways  of  playing  the  violin 
and  the  other  stringed  instruments,  such  for 
example  as  the  "col  legno"  (touching  the 
strings  with  the  back  of  the  bow  instead  of 
with  the  hairs),  but  those  we  have  already 


VIOLA 


THE  VIOLA  29 

mentioned  are  the  most  important.  They  are 
all  applicable  to  the  entire  group  of  stringed  in- 
struments, though  harmonics  and  the  mute  or 
sordino  are  seldom  used  on  the  double-bass. 

A  word  must  be  said  here  as  to  the  second 
violins,  the  group  of  players  immediately  to 
the  right  of  the  conductor,  at  the  front  of  the 
stage.  They  play,  of  course,  exactly  the  same 
kind  of  instrument  as  the  first  violins,  and  are 
to  be  distinguished  from  them  merely  by  the 
different  functions  they  are  called  upon  to  per- 
form. While  the  first  violins  often  carry  the 
main  melody,  the  seconds  much  less  frequently 
do  so,  but  generally  fill  up  one  of  the  harmonic 
"parts/'  When  the  firsts  have  a  melody  lying 
high  up  on  the  E-string,  however,  the  seconds 
often  reenforce  them  by  playing  the  same  mel- 
ody an  octave  lower.  Figures  so  rapid  as  to 
present  great  difficulties  to  the  players  are  also 
sometimes  divided  between  the  two,  the  firsts 
playing  only  a  few  measures  and  then  being 
relieved  by  the  seconds.  In  "tuttis"  (an  Italian 
word  meaning  "all,"  and  indicating  those  pass- 
ages, generally  loud,  where  all  the  orchestra  is 
employed  together),  the  seconds  often  join  the 
firsts,  the  lower  parts  of  the  harmony  being 
entrusted  to  other  instruments. 

VI. — THE    VIOLA. 

The  viola,  in  appearance  exactly  like  the 
violin  save  for  its  slightly  greater  size,  is  the 
alto  of  the  string  choir,  and  is  indeed  by  the 
French  called  the  "Alto."  In  Germany  it  is 
known  as  the  "Bratsche"  (Brah-tcha).  Its 


30      THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 

FIGURE  VIII. 
TUNING  AND  RANGE  OF  THE  VIOLA. 


*7  -Z=r  Second  string.    ,**"*  sttrinfr  «J 

-&-  Third  string.  Chanterelle." 

Fourth  string. 

Written  with  the  alto  clef,  thus 


^=^= 

Range. 

=^= 

1                         = 

—3?  ' 

four  strings  are  tuned  a  fifth  lower  than  those 
of  the  violin  (see  Figure  VIII  ),  and  music  for 
it  is  written  in  the  so-called  alto  clef  which  puts 
middle  C  on  the  third  line. 

The  quality  of  tone  of  the  viola  differs  con- 
siderably from  that  of  the  violin,  on  account  of 
the  different  proportion  between  the  length  and 
the  thickness  of  the  strings.  The  viola  strings 
are  much  thicker  and  heavier  in  proportion  to 
their  length,  and  hence  have  a  less  brilliant  but 
in  some  respects  a  richer  tone.  There  is  a 
certain  sinister,  austere,  dark  quality  about  the 
viola  tone  which  is  characteristic,  and  which 
adds  a  valuable  pigment  to  the  composer's 
palette. 

The  viola,  however,  is  seldom  used  as  a  solo 
instrument  in  the  orchestra.  Its  most  usual 
functions  are  the  following:  (1)  to  take  one 
of  the  lower  strands  of  the  harmony,  generally 
what  corresponds  to  the  tenor  part  in  a  chorus ; 
(2)  to  double  the  first  or  second  violins  or  some 
other  solo  instrument  in  melodies;  (3)  to  pro- 


'CELLO 


THE  VIOLONCELLO  31 

vide  the  bass  in  soft,  delicate  combinations 
when  the  lower  stringed  instruments  are  silent 
or  being  otherwise  used. 

VII. — THE   VIOLONCELLO. 

The  violoncello,  the  large  stringed  instru- 
ment held  between  the  knees  of  the  player,  has 
four  strings  much  longer  than  those  of  the 
viola,  and  tuned  an  octave  lower  (see  Figure 
IX  ).  It  is  an  instrument  of  remarkable  versa- 
tility, though  undoubtedly  its  most  frequent  use 
is  to  supply  the  bass,  either  with  or  without  the 
double-bass,  which  usually  plays  an  octave 
lower. 

FIGURE  IX. 

TUNING  AND  RANGE  OF  THE  VIOLONCELLO. 


Founding.      ™*  •*»«*  '" 


Q 


~  (Seldom  used  above 
~—      here  in  orchestra.) 


The  peculiarly  full,  rich  tone  of  the  'cello, 
however,  especially  of  its  "chanterelle"  or  A- 
string,  makes  it  an  admirable  solo  instrument, 
to  which  many  of  the  most  inspired  melodies  in 
orchestral  music  owe  much  of  their  eloquence. 
How  unforgettable  is  the  lovely  second  theme 
of  the  first  movement  of  Schubert's  Unfinished 
Symphony,  sung  by  the  'cellos  against  a  throb- 
bing accompaniment  of  the  violas  and  clari- 
nets ! l  ( See  Figure  X,  a) .  Not  less  deserved- 
CD  The  'cello  solo  In  Figure  VII.,  from  Schubert,  is 
also  worthy  of  note.  It  lies  entirely  on  the  A-strlng. 


32       THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 
FIGURE  X. 

(a)  Allegro  moderate.  SCHUBERT  :  Unfinished  Symphony. 


(b)  Andante  con  moto. 


BEETHOVEN  :  Fifth  Symphony. 


t — rfi_n_LK 


f>dol, 

tg^^F^f^aggfe^ 

c —    — »^ c_*». —          5fe"  ' 

ra~-r* 

ly  famous  is  the  theme  of  the  Andante  of 
Beethoven's  Fifth  Symphony,  in  which  the 
'cellos  are  joined  by  the  violas  (Figure  X,  b). 
A  more  modern  example  is  the  chief  melody  of 
Goldmark's  overture,  "Sakuntala."  Here  the 
richness  of  the  'cello  tone  is  enhanced  by  the 
addition  of  a  clarinet  in  its  low  register  (Figure 
XI). 

FIGURE  XI. 

Moderate  assai.  GOLOMARK  :  "  Sakuntala  "  Overture. 


m 


THE   VIOLONCELLO 


33 


dim. 


In  his  "Pathetic  Symphony,"  Tschaikowsky 
assigns  the  first  entrance  of  the  suave  second 
theme  to  the  first  violins  and  the  violoncellos, 
playing  an  octave  apart,  and  with  mutes  (sor- 
dini), (Figure  XII ).  The  accompaniment  is 
supplied  almost  entirely  by  wind  instruments 
(horns,  clarinets,  and  bassoons),  against  which 
the  string  tone  stands  out  in  strong  relief. 

FIGURE  XII. 


Andante. 
ist  Violin* 
Violoncellos 
(both         tSfi 
muted.)   «J 


TSCHAIKOWSKY  :  Pathetic  Symphony. 


34       THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 

Owing  to  this  prominent  relief  in  which  the 
tone  of  the  'cello  A-string  always  stands  out, 
the  'cello  is  often  written  above  the  viola  when 
it  is  desired  to  emphasize  an  important  part  in 
the  middle  of  the  orchestral  web.  In  nothing, 
perhaps,  is  the  skill  of  the  adept  orchestrator 
more  subtly  shown  than  in  these  fine  bits  of 
coloring  which  a  careless  or  inexperienced 
reader  of  the  score  easily  misses  altogether. 
At  the  beginning  of  that  little  masterpiece,  the 
Adagietto  of  Bizet's  "L'Arlesienne"  Suite,  in- 
tended to  accompany  the  meeting  of  the  old 
lovers  in  the  drama,  and  scored  for  muted  vio- 
lins, violas,  and  'cellos  alone,  Bizet  gives  the 
bass  to  the  violas,  saving  the  'cellos  for  the 
more  expressive  tenor  voice  (see  Figure  XIII, 


(a)  Adagio. 


FIGURE  XIII. 

BIZET:  "L'Arlesienne,"  Suite. 
ist  Violins.  (  r 

Hi 


jfl  1  1)        f  —  y  t               jl    0-^-\  j  * 

t-'            |P               *!__  '            ' 
1                                       1 

r 

etc. 

«d      ..  . 

All  the  strings  are 
muted.  The  'Cellos  are 
written  above  the  Vio- 
las to  make  the  Tenor 
part  stand  out. 


THE  DOUBLEBASS  35 

(b)  Allegro  motto.  DVORAK:  "New  World"  Symphony. 


This  is  simplified  for  piano.    In  the  orchestral  version  the  'cellos 
take  the  half-notes,  while  the  violas  fill  up  the  harmony  below  them. 

a).  Were  the  instruments  reversed  the  beauti- 
ful passage  would  lose  much  of  its  color. 
Again,  in  a  memorable  passage  in  the  "New 
World"  Symphony  (Figure  XIII,  &),  Dvorak 
brings  his  violoncellos  up  above  his  violas  for 
a  few  measures,  simply  to  get  their  mordant, 
penetrating  tone  on  that  wonderful  C-sharp  in 
the  fourth  measure  of  our  excerpt,  which  no 
one  who  has  heard  it  is  likely  to  forget. 

Did  space  permit,  many  examples  of  this 
kind  of  subtlety  in  orchestral  coloring  might  be 
studied.  It  may  be  said  in  passing  that  the 
help  which  the  reading  of  orchestral  scores 
gives  to  the  appreciation  of  just  such  elusive 
beauties  is  one  of  its  greatest  advantages. 

VIII.— THE    DOUBLE-BASS. 

It  is  the  business  of  this  bulky  instrument, 
well  nicknamed  the  "bull  fiddle,"  to  sustain  the 
bass  part,  either  with  or  without  the  help  of 
the  'cello,  the  bassoon,  or  the  tuba.  Owing  to 
the  great  length  and  thickness  of  its  strings  it 
is  incapable  of  such  rapid  figures  as  the  other 
stringed  instruments.  The  fingers  have  to 
traverse  so  much  space  that  it  is  found  con- 
venient to  tune  the  strings  in  smaller  inter- 


36       THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 

vals  than  on  the  'cello  (in  fourths  instead  of 
fifths).     (See  Figure  XIV). 

FIGURE  XIV. 


Actual  c 

sound  :E 


TUNING  AND  RANGE  OF  THE  DOUBLEBASS. 

*  — =— 


I.W  

Fourth 
string. 

Range  (actual  sounds)  : 

Third 
string. 

Second 
string. 

—  (Seldo 

First 
string. 

m  used  above  here.) 

pg           ^=^ 

The  part  for  the  double-bass  in  the  orches- 
tral score  is  written  an  octave  higher  than  it 
sounds.  This  is  the  first  instance  we  have  met 
with  of  a  "transposing  instrument,"  that  is,  an 
instrument  which  plays  tones  different  from 
those  written  on  the  score.  Transposing  in- 
struments are  of  several  kinds,  and  the  trans- 
positions, as  we  shall  later  see,  are  introduced 
for  various  purposes.  In  the  present  instance 
there  are  two  reasons.  It  used  to  be  customary 
for  the  double-basses  to  play  from  the  vio- 
loncello parts,  one  double-bass  and  one  'cello 
playing  at  each  desk.  The  double-bass  in  this 
case  always  played  an  octave  below  the  'cello. 
This  custom  has  become  obsolete,  but  its  influ- 
ence on  the  notation  remains. 

The  second  reason  why  the  double-bass  part 
is  written  an  octave  higher  than  it  sounds  is 
that  this  method  brings  practically  all  its  notes 
on  the  staff.  If  it  were  written  where  it 


DOUBLEBASS 


THE  DOUBLEBASS 


37 


sounds,  great  inconvenience  to  the  copyist 
would  result  from  the  many  leger  lines  that 
would  have  to  be  used. 

Before  the  time  of  Beethoven  the  double- 
bass  was  a  humdrum  instrument,  invaluable 
to  the  ensemble  but  possessing  little  individ- 
uality. Beethoven,  with  his  characteristic  in- 
dependence, used  it  for  special  effects,  making 
it  humorous  in  the  scherzo  of  the  Fifth  Sym- 
phony (Figure  XV,  a)  and  notably  eloquent  in 
the  famous  recitatives  of  the  Ninth  Symphony. 


FIGURE  XV. 


(a)  Allegro. 
Double  Bas 


Violoncellos. 


ses  and 


BHBTHOVKN : 
Fifth  Symphony. 


TSCHAIKOWSKY  :    Symphonie  Pathetique. 


DVORAK:  "New  World 
Symphony. 


38      THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 

In  our  own  day  it  has  been  used  with  daring 
originality  by  Tschaikowsky  and  others,  who 
sometimes  divide  the  double-basses  into  sev- 
eral groups.  Thus  the  memorable  opening  of 
the  "Pathetic  Symphony"  is  scored  for  double- 
basses  in  two  divisions  and  bassoons  in  their 
low  register — a  most  mysterious  effect.  (Fig- 
ure XV,  &).  Dvorak,  at  the  end  of  the  slow 
movement  of  his  "New  World"  Symphony, 
writes  a  chord  for  double-basses  alone,  in  four 
groups,  one  for  each  tone.  (Figure  XV,  c). 
One  also  finds  in  modern  scores  the  double- 
basses  sometimes  written  above  the  violoncel- 
los, when  the  composer  has  some  especial  de- 
sign in  view. 

The  harp,  although  not  a  regular  member 
of  the  orchestral  forces,  deserves  a  word  here. 
It  has  forty-six  strings,  tuned  to  the  diatonic 
scale  of  C-flat,  but  fastened  to  pedals  oper- 
ated by  the  feet,  by  which  they  can  be  so 
tightened  that  all  keys  are  available.  The 
plucking  of  the  strings  by  the  fingers  gives  a 
certain  not  unpleasant  twang  characteristic  of 
the  instrument.  It  is  chiefly  used  in  accom- 
paniment, sounding  chords  and  arpeggios  (the 
latter  word  being,  by  the  way,  derived  from  its 
Italian  name). 

The  "harmonics"  of  the  harp,  wondrously 
clear  and  ethereal,  have  been  cleverly  used  by 
Berlioz  in  his  "Dance  of  Sylphs." 


HARP 


CHAPTER  III. 

IX.— THE    WOOD-WIND    INSTRUMENTS. 

The  second  important  division  of  the  or- 
chestra, after  the  strings,  is  the  choir  of  wood- 
wind instruments,  namely  flutes,  oboes,  clari- 
nets, and  bassoons,  to  which  are  sometimes 
added  the  kindred  instruments,  piccolo,  English 
horn,  bass  clarinet,  and  contra-bassoon.1 

This  division  is  much  less  homogeneous,  and 
much  less  frequently  used  en  masse,  than  that 
of  the  strings ;  there  is  far  more  difference  be- 
tween flutes  and  oboes,  for  example,  than  there 
is  between  violins  and  violas  or  'cellos.  More- 
over, the  wood-wind  instruments,  as  was  stated 
above,  are  both  more  fatiguing  to  play  for 
long  stretches,  and  more  monotonous  in  their 
effect  upon  the  listener,  than  the  strings.  Hence 
they  are  used  chiefly  for  contrast  and  color, 
either  as  solo  instruments  or  for  intensifying 
particular  strands  in  the  web  of  tone.  From 
such  employment  of  them,  skilfully  made,  there 
result  a  hundred  shades  and  half-shades  of 
color  as  delicate  as  the  iridescent  hues  of  a  sea- 
shell. 

In  all  wind  instruments  (brass  as  well  as 
wood)  the  tone  is  produced  by  the  vibration 

(1)  The  horns,  not  to  be  confused  with  the  English 
horn,  which  is  an  Instrument  of  the  oboe  family,  are 
•ometimes  grouped  with  the  wood-wind,  although  mada 
of  brass,  because  their  tone  ia  so  soft  and  mellow  that  it 
merges  well  with  wood  tone  and  is  often  used  with  it. 
W«  shall,  however,  for  simplicity,  not  take  up  the  horns 
until  after  we  have  treated  the  wood-wind. 


40      THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 

of  columns  of  air  rather  than  by  that  of  strings 
and  their  wooden  supports,  as  in  the  string  in- 
struments. The  differences  in  the  tone  quali- 
ties and  modes  of  playing  the  wind  instru- 
ments arise  from  differing  methods  of  starting 
such  vibration  (direct  blowing  in  the  flute,  a 
double-reed  in  oboes  and  bassoons,  a  single 
reed  in  clarinets,  etc.),  and  from  differing 
ways  of  altering  the  pitch. 

In  order  to  understand  the  latter  point,  alter- 
ation of  pitch,  it  is  necessary  to  bear  constant- 
ly in  mind  two  general  principles.  First,  other 
things  being  equal,  the  longer  the  column  of 
air  the  slower  will  be  its  vibration,  and  con- 
sequently the  lower  will  be  the  tone  it  emits. 
Second,  a  column  of  air,  like  a  string,  can 
vibrate  either  as  a  whole,  or  in  segments  of  one- 
half  its  length,  one-third  its  length,  one- fourth 
its  length,  etc.,  or  in  several  of  these  ways  at 
once.  Each  of  these  modes  of  vibration  gives 
rise  to  its  own  "partial"  tone,  and  on  the  num- 
ber and  relative  strength  of  the  various  partials 
depends  the  peculiar  timbre  or  tone-color  char- 
acteristic of  each  instrument. 

If  these  facts  are  borne  in  mind  the  reader 
will  easily  grasp  the  principles  of  construction 
of  the  various  wind  instruments. 

X. — THE    FLUTE. 

The  flute  is  easily  identified  at  sight  in  the 
orchestra  as  the  only  instrument  which  the 
player  blows  across  instead  of  directly  into. 
Made  either  of  wood  or  of  metal,  it  is  pro- 
vided with  keys  which  when  pressed  by  the 
fingers  open  holes  in  the  tube,  thus  altering 
the  pitch  by  shortening  the  vibratory  column 


FLUTE 


THE  FLUTE  41 

of  air.  In  this  way  are  obtained  all  the  tones 
from  middle  C  to  the  C-sharp  an  octave  above 
it  (See  Figure  XVI  ),  these  tones  being  pro- 
duced by  the  vibration  of  the  air  column  as  a 
whole. 

FIGURE  XVI. 

RANGE  AND  QUALITIES  OF  THE  FLUTK. 

First  register,  produced  by  low  pressure : 

= Woody,  dark,  menacing. 

Second  register,  produced  by  increased  pressure  : 

a •  •      — Clear,  mellow,  "flutey." 


Third  register,  produced  by  still  greater  pressure  : 

•  js. 
•  '     —        Bright,  brilliant. 


The  higher  registers,  also  shown  in  Figure 
XVI,  are  obtained  by  simply  blowing  harder 
(with  certain  changes  of  fingering),  which 
causes  the  air  column  to  break  up  and  vibrate 
in  sections  instead  of  as  a  whole.  This  in- 
creased wind  pressure  produces  the  second  par- 
tial, an  octave  higher  than  the  fundamental 
tone,  which  gives,  with  the  help  of  the  holes 
and  keys  in  altering  the  length  of  the  air  col- 
umn, another  group  of  tones  an  octave  higher 
than  the  first.  Still  greater  pressure  produces 
the  third  partial,  an  octave  and  a  fifth  higher 
than  the  first  or  fundamental  tone,  and  so  on. 
The  higher  registers  are  keener  and  more  pene- 
trating in  quality  than  the  lower,  the  extreme 
upper  tones  being  most  brilliant.  The  char- 


42       THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 

acteristic  qualities  of  the  different  registers  are 
indicated  in  the  figure. 

The  flute  is  most  frequently  used  as  a  solo 
instrument  in  light,  delicate,  lyrical  passages. 
The  classical  instance,  often  quoted  but  never 
hackneyed,  is  the  filmy  scherzo  in  the  "Mid- 
summer Night's  Dream"  music  of  Mendels- 
sohn, a  composer  whose  fanciful  genius  has 
used  the  flute  with  incomparable  felicity  (Fig- 
ure XVII  ). 

FIGURE  XVII. 


Allegro  vivace. 
Flutes. 


MENDELSSOHN  :  Scherzo, 
"  Midsummer  Night's  Dream/ 


-M.    m 


/I  JU     1    yBl**1     i   ' 

111,1!  — 

i  —  i  pi  '»n 

-t  —  •  —  «  — 

J 

Clarinets.        *     .         Flutes. 


£ 


tt 


pizz. 


THE  FLUTE 


43 


The  flute  here  plays  a  rapid  figure  in  six- 
teenth notes,  at  first  supported  by  chords  for 
the  strings,  later  all  alone  so  that  it  is  heard 
to  great  advantage.  Beginning  this  part  in  its 
"woody"  lower  register,  it  gradually  climbs  up 
into  brighter  regions  until,  at  the  return  of  the 
main  melody,  the  best  tones  of  the  flute  are 
heard  in  dainty  two-part  harmony. 
FIGURE  XVIII. 


Andantino.                                                   BIZBT:  Carillon 
2  flutes.                                                  from  "  L'Arlesienne." 

/BBfepf^*^ 

=ti—  fri^r 

=fcM-8-|S: 

UTOF  Hiil  1  U- 
<\               ft  Strings. 

tef^  \  »  ^ 

^^-i^jS&I 

^^cf  i   ^ 

1  *         g=  —  S^ 

--  —  »*—  *  —  *- 

44       THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 


Figure  XVIII,  from  Bizet,  shows  a  differ- 
ent use  of  two  flutes  together.  Here  the  tones 
are  sustained,  melodious,  instead  of  delicately 
staccato,  and  the  style  and  rhythm  of  the  mu- 
sic are  pastoral.  The  momentary  dissonance 
caused  by  the  first  flute  taking  B-natural 
against  the  second  flute's  B-sharp  is  a  point  of 
special  beauty.  Later  the  two  oboes  join  in, 
lending  with  their  more  pungent  tone  addi- 
tional force  to  the  same  dissonance  (F-sharp 
against  F-double-sharp). 


FIGURE  XIX. 


Andante  con  moto. 


MENDELSSOHN  : 
Italian  Symphony. 


(The  stems  of  the  notes  for  the  violins  are  turned  upwards,  those  of 
the  notes  for  the  flutes  downwards.) 


In  the  passage  from  Mendelssohn's  Italian 
Symphony,  shown  in  Figure  XIX ,  the  flutes 


THE  OBOE  45 

merely  provide  an  accompaniment  to  the  violin 
melody — but  an  accompaniment  of  what  deli- 
ciously  melting  harmony !  No  one  who  has 
heard  this  passage  is  likely  to  forget  its  rav- 
ishing beauty,  produced  by  surprisingly  simple 
means. 

In  forte  and  fortissimo  passages  for  the  full 
orchestra  ("tutti")  the  two  flutes  are  ordi- 
narily either  placed  with  the  violins  on  the  mel- 
ody or  given  holding  chords  with  the  other  in- 
struments of  their  family. 

The  piccolo  is  a  small  flute  playing  an  octave 
higher  than  the  ordinary  instrument,  and  used 
chiefly  to  give  additional  brightness  to  "tutti" 
passages,  as  at  the  end  of  Beethoven's  "Eg- 
mont"  Overture.  The  notes  for  it  are  written 
an  octave  lower  than  they  sound. 

XI.— THE    OBOE. 

The  oboe  differs  from  the  flute  in  that  the 
column  of  air  within  its  tube  is  set  in  motion 
not  directly,  but  through  the  medium  of  a 
double-reed,  consisting  of  two  thin  slips  of 
cane  set  against  each  other  so  as  to  leave  a 
passage  for  the  air,  and  placed  in  the  mouth- 
piece of  the  instrument.  This  mode  of  starting 
the  vibration,  producing  as  it  does  a  tone  con- 
taining several  "upper  partials,"  is  the  reason 
for  the  peculiar  "reedy,"  almost  querulous 
quality  of  the  oboe  tone.  As  in  the  flute,  the 
changes  of  pitch  are  produced  in  part  by  a 
mechanism  of  holes  and  keys,  in  part  by  varia- 


46      THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 

tions  of  breath-pressure.    The  range  and  qual- 
ities of  the  oboe  are  shown  in  Figure  XX. 


FIGURE  XX. 
RANGE  AND  QUALITIES  OF  THE  OBOE. 

.  es  Harsh,  nasal. 


Reedy,  penetrating, 

plaintive. 
(The  best  register.) 


m 


—    Thin,  weak. 


It  is  a  peculiarity  of  the  oboe  that  the  wind- 
pressure  has  to  be  very  light,  so  light  indeed 
that  the  player  can  never  fully  empty  his  lungs. 
For  this  reason  he  soon  becomes  fatigued,  and 
rests  have  to  be  given  him  frequently. 

In  common  with  the  other  double-reed  in- 
struments, the  English  horn,  the  bassoon,  and 
the  double-bassoon,  and  with  single-reed  in- 
struments such  as  the  clarinet,  the  oboe  has  a 
much  more  expressive  tone,  and  a  greater 
range  of  power  between  pianissimo  and  fortis- 
simo, than  the  flute,  and  adapts  itself  conse- 
quently to  a  greater  diversity  of  uses  in  the 
orchestra.  It  is  much  more  used  as  a  solo 
instrument,  however,  than  in  any  other  way, 
as  its  tone  is  so  penetrating  that  it  cannot 
easily  be  subordinated  to  anything  else. 


OBOE 


THE  OBOE 
FIGURE  XXI. 


47 


Allegro. 


BBBTHOVBN  :  Pastoral  Symphony. 


-*••?-.-*•- 


Beethoven  had  a  great  fondness  for  the  oboe, 
and  his  scores  abound  in  oboe  solos  of  the  most 
varied  character,  always  effective.  He  fre- 
quently avails  himself  of  the  half-humorous, 
half-tender  qualities  of  the  oboe  in  staccato  or 
tripping  utterance,  as  for  example  in  the  mel- 
ody from  the  scherzo  of  the  Pastoral  Sym- 
phony shown  above.  On  the  other  hand, 
no  one  knew  better  its  capacities  for  serious 
expression.  In  the  great  Funeral  March 
of  his  "Eroica"  Symphony,  after  announcing 
his  theme  on  the  G-string  of  the  violins  (as 
shown  in  Figure  VI,  c),  he  answers  them,  with 
poignant  beauty,  by  the  thinner,  slighter,  yet 
infinitely  plaintive  tones  of  the  oboe  (Figure 

XXII). 

FIGURE  XXII. 


BBBTHOVBN  :  Eroica  Symphony. 


cresc.  df  cretc.        Ji 


48      THE  ORCHESTRAL   INSTRUMENTS 
FIGURE  XXIII. 

Andante  con  tnoto.  SCHUBERT  :  Unfinished  Symphony. 

ist  Oboe. 


A  remarkably  imaginative  treatment  of  the 
oboe  is  Schubert's  in  the  slow  movement  of 
his  Unfinished  Symphony  (Figure  XXIII  )— 


THE  OBOE 


49 


a  treatment  in  which  the  appropriate  use  of 
the  instrument  is  enhanced  by  harmonic  in- 
genuities. Against  gently  pulsing  chords  in  the 
strings  the  oboe  outlines  a  quiet,  sad  melody, 
which  soon  becomes  agitated  and  reaches  the 
high  F  with  an  almost  passionate  intensity. 
Here  it  rests  for  three  measures,  sinking  back 
by  delicate  gradations  to  piano,  while  the  har- 
mony similarly  lapses  from  the  key  of  B-flat, 
through  the  minor,  to  that  of  D-flat.  The  final 
E  of  the  oboe  is  another  instance  of  those  long- 
held  notes,  gradually  dying  away,  which  it 
renders  so  incomparably. 


Largo. 


Clarinet. 


FIGURE  XXIV. 

DVORAK  :  "  New  World"  Symphony. 


BVf    *E 


J  J  *  > 


s^ 


r 

Bi 

r**s^^*^ 

etc. 

SO       THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 

Though  used  infrequently  for  anything  but 
melody,  oboe-tone  is  sometimes  just  what  is 
wanted  to  give  saliency,  depth,  or  richness  to 
some  minor  strand  of  the  harmony.  The  ex- 
ample from  Dvorak  (Figure  XXIV )  illus- 
trates this  sort  of  case.  Here  two  oboes  are 
used  as  an  accompaniment  to  a  somber  melody 
given  to  the  clarinet — a  combination  as  novel 
as  it  is  happy.  The  profound  melancholy  of 
both  theme  and  tone-color  in  this  beautiful 
passage  make  it  one  of  the  finest  things  in 
modern  musical  literature. 

The  English  horn,  misleadingly  named,  is  in 
reality  not  a  horn  at  all,  but  a  larger  and  lower- 
pitched  oboe.  It  is  indeed  the  alto  of  the  oboe 
family,  bearing  much  the  relation  to  the  ordi- 
nary oboe  that  the  viola  bears  to  the  violin. 
Its  tube  is  half  as  long  again  as  that  of  the 
oboe,  and  its  pitch  and  range  a  fifth  lower.  It 
is  a  transposing  instrument,  the  music  for  it 
being  written  a  fifth  higher  than  it  sounds. 

In  the  English  horn  the  richness  and  ex- 
pressiveness of  oboe  tone  are  enhanced  by  the 
lower  pitch,  so  that  it  is  one  of  the  most  elo- 
quent of  solo  instruments  for  melodies  of  a 
melancholy  or  exotic  character.  It  has  never 
been  used  to  better  purpose  than  by  Dvorak  in 
the  symphony  from  which  we  have  already 
quoted  so  often — in  the  slow  movement,  of 
which  it  announces  the  theme: — 


ENGLISH   HORN 


THE  ENGLISH  HORN 
FIGURE  XXV. 


51 


Largo.  DVORAK  :  "New  World"  Symphony. 

n          English  Horn. 


1  Strings. 


It  is  also  finely  used  by  Goldmark  in  his 
"Sakuntala"  Overture,  where  he  assigns  to  it 
and  the  oboe,  in  octaves,  the  languorous  second 
theme : 


Andante  assai. 
Oboe. 


FIGURE  XXVI. 

GOLDMARK  :  "  Sakuntala  "  Overture. 

"S-j^S-S- 


English  Horn. 


LLJ 


I 


At  the  end  of  the  "Scene  in  the  Fields"  in 
his  "Symphonie  Fantastique,"  Berlioz  has 
given  fragments  of  his  theme  to  the  English 
horn,  accompanied  only  by  four  kettle-drums, 


52      THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 

pianissimo.  Of  this  passage  he  himself  re- 
marks, in  his  treatise  on  Orchestration:  "The 
feelings  of  absence,  of  forgetfulness,  of  sor- 
rowful loneliness,  which  arise  in  the  bosoms  of 
the  audience  on  hearing  this  forsaken  melody 
would  lack  half  their  power  if  played  by  any 
other  instrument  than  the  English  horn." 

XIL— THE   CLARINET. 

The  clarinet,  perhaps  the  most  useful  of  all 
wood-wind  instruments  on  account  of  its  great 
range,  its  beautiful  quality,  and  its  facility  of 
execution  as  regards  both  speed  and  variation 
of  force,  differs  mechanically  from  the  oboe, 
which  it  closely  resembles  in  appearance,  in  two 
important  respects.  It  is  played  not  by  a 
double  but  by  a  single  reed,  which  is  pressed 
against  the  player's  lower  lip,  and  its  tube  is 
cylindrical  instead  of  conical. 

A  curious  result  of  this  construction  is  that 
the  evenly  numbered  partial  tones,  the  second, 
fourth,  sixth,  etc.,  are  not  produced,  and  the 
presence  of  only  the  odd  partials  in  the  tone 
give  it  a  most  individual  coloring.  This  ab- 
sence of  the  useful  second  partial  tone,  which 
gives  flute  and  oboe  their  second  octave,  also 
produces  inequalities  of  tone  in  the  different 
registers,  and  necessitates  irregularities  of 
fingering. 

Three  different  clarinets  are  in  use  in  the 
orchestra,  identical  as  to  holes,  keys,  and  finger- 
ing, but  differing  in  length,  and  consequently 
in  pitch.  These  are  the  clarinet  in  C,  the  clari- 


CLARINET 


THE  CLARINET  53 

net  in  B-flat,  and  the  clarinet  in  A,  commonly 
called  "C  clarinet/'  "B  clarinet,"  and  "A  clari- 
net." Of  these  the  C  clarinet,  on  account  of  its 
slightly  inferior  tone-quality,  is  least  used ;  but 
as  it  is  the  type  of  all  clarinets  it  must  be  de- 
scribed first. 

The  full  length  of  the  tube  of  the  C  clarinet, 
with  low  breath-pressure,  sounds  the  E  below 
middle  C.  With  the  same  breath-pressure,  the 
player  obtains  by  the  use  of  the  keys  all  the 
tones  up  to  the  E  just  above  middle  C.  This 
register  is  called  the  "Chalumeau"  (see  Figure 
XXVII  ),  and  is  of  a  wondrous  mellowness 
and  richness  of  tone. 

FIGURE  XXVII. 

RANGE  AND  QUALITIES  OF  THE  CLARINET. 

.  •*-<:=- 

C  clarinet.  .  .-o.  ja.       E: 


^. .  "  Break."  "  Middle."  Highest. 

1  Chalumeau." 


B  clarinet. 


i 


ha. 


A  clarinet. 


Chalumeau:  rich,  reedy.     Break:  weak,  dull. 
Middle:  clear,  strong.     Highest:  penetrating. 

As  the  second  partial  cannot  be  sounded, 
however,  the  next  tone  obtainable  by  increase 
of  pressure  is  the  third  partial  of  the  original 


54       THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 

low  E,  which  is  the  B  above  middle  C.  From 
the  chalumeau  to  this  B,  therefore,  extends  the 
so-called  "Break"  in  the  instrument,  of  which 
the  tones  are  produced  by  extra  keys,  and  are 
of  inferior  quality.  They  are  also  difficult  to 
produce  rapidly.  This  break  is  the  most  un- 
fortunate feature  of  the  clarinet,  and,  as  we 
shall  presently  see,  is  one  of  the  chief  reasons 
why  it  is  desirable  to  use  clarinets  of  varying 
pitch. 

The  register  produced  by  the  third  partial 
tones  (altered  in  pitch,  of  course,  by  the  keys) 
extends  for  about  an  octave  above  the  B  above 
middle  C,  and  is  called  the  middle  register. 
This  is  of  a  fine  clarity  and  nobility  of  tone. 
Above  it  extends  the  highest  register  of  the  in- 
strument, useful  though  less  brilliant  than  the 
same  tones  of  the  flute,  and  produced  by  still 
greater  breath-pressure,  with  certain  complexi- 
ties of  fingering  into  which  it  is  not  necessary 
to  enter. 

The  registers  of  the  B  clarinet  correspond 
exactly  to  those  of  the  instrument  in  C,  save 
that  on  account  of  the  greater  length  of  the 
tube  they  are  throughout  a  major  second  lower. 
The  registers  of  the  A  clarinet  are  in  the  same 
way  a  minor  third  lower.  (  See  Figure  XXVII  ). 

The  reader  will  now  ask,  Why  is  it  necessary 
to  use  these  other  instruments  at  all?  Why 
cannot  one  kind  of  clarinet  play  all  clarinet 
music? 

The  reason  is,  first,  that  music  written  in 
keys  in  which  there  are  many  sharps  or  flats 


THE  CLARINET  55 

involves  great  difficulties  in  fingering,  which 
may  become  almost  insuperable  in  complicated 
passages,  but  which  are  easily  evaded  by  using 
a  differently  tuned  instrument.  For  example, 
suppose  we  are  writing  in  the  key  of  F-sharp, 
which  has  six  sharps.  If  we  were  to  use  C 
clarinets  the  players  would  throw  up  their 
hands  in  despair  at  so  many  sharps,  and  very 
likely  declare  their  parts  unplayable.  If,  how- 
ever, we  should  use  B  clarinets,  which  produce 
tones  a  major  second  lower  than  those  writ- 
ten, we  should  be  able  to  write  their  part  in  the 
key  of  A-flat  (a  major  second  higher  than  F- 
sharp)  which  would  give  them  only  four  flats ; 
and  flats,  moreover,  are  easier  for  wind  instru- 
ments than  sharps.  Or  we  could  use  A  clari- 
nets, writing  them  in  the  key  of  A,  which  has 
but  three  sharps.  Since  the  A  clarinet  sounds  a 
minor  third  lower  than  written,  this  would 
bring  them  where  we  want  them. 

In  short,  like  all  transposing  instruments  the 
B  and  A  clarinets  are  used  when  and  where 
their  parts  will  be  easiest  and  most  effective, 
the  composer  remembering  that  a  B  clarinet 
will  sound  a  major  second  or  whole  step  lower 
than  it  is  written,  an  A  clarinet  a  minor  third, 
or  step  and  a  half,  lower. 

A  further  reason  for  the  practice,  in  the 
case  of  the  clarinets,  is  the  "Break."  Suppose 
we  want  the  notes  lying  just  at  the  upper  edge 
of  the  "break*'  in  the  C  clarinet:  we  can  get 
them  in  a  good  quality  of  tone  and  with  no 
difficulties  for  the  player  by  simply  changing  to 


56      THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 

an  A  clarinet,  on  which  these  same  tones  lie  in 
the  excellent  middle  register. 

"The  clarinet,"  says  Berlioz,  "is  an  epic  in- 
strument. Its  voice  is  that  of  heroic  love.  The 
character  of  the  sounds  of  the  medium  register, 
imbued  with  a  kind  of  loftiness  tempering  a 
noble  tenderness,  render  them  favorable  for  the 
expression  of  sentiments  and  ideas  the  most 
poetic."  This  lofty  and  impassioned  tender- 
ness of  the  clarinet  is  splendidly  utilized  in  the 
solo  from  the  "Freischiitz"  Overture  of  Weber, 
a  composer  who  made  the  clarinet  peculiarly 
his  own,  shown  in  Figure  XXVIII,  a.  The  long 
FIGURE  XXVIII. 


(a)  Molto  vivace. 


WEBKR  :  "  Freischutz  "  Overture. 


(J)  Allegretto. 


BKKTHOVHN  :  Seventh  Symphony. 


THE  CLARINET  57 

(c)  Allegro,  grazioso.  BRAHMS:  Third  Symphony. 

*£ 


mm 


ci.-< 

Bas. 


Flute. 


Strings.! 


m 


^ 


r 


-^h£ 

^i 


i 


Br^iT: 

t7     SF^ 


»r  r 


•rr 


r 


r 


etc. 

1  — 


"T 


notes  of  the  clarinet  here,  against  an  exciting 
tremolo  of  the  accompanying  strings,  are  most 
impressive. 

The  second  example  in  the  same  figure  is  a 
melody  from  Beethoven's  Seventh  Symphony, 
in  which  the  middle  register  is  used  for  a 
quieter  and  more  lyrical  expression,  while  in 
Figure  XXVIII,  c  we  have  a  more  modern  ex- 
ample, a  theme  from  Brahms,  in  which  the 
clarinet  becomes  appealing,  almost  plaintive. 


58      THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 

The  lower  notes  given  to  the  right  hand  in  this 
piano  version  are  carried  by  the  bassoon,  the 
tone  of  which  merges  perfectly  with  that  of  the 
clarinet. 

It  is  less  frequently  that  we  find  the  clarinet 
used  for  gay  pastoral  tunes,  for  which  the  flute 
and  the  oboe  are  better  suited;  nevertheless 
Mendelssohn  thus  uses  it,  most  successfully,  in 
the  jig-like  Scherzo  of  his  Scotch  Symphony, 
as  shown  in  Figure  XXIX. 

FIGURE  XXIX. 

MENDELSSOHN  : 
Vivace  non  troppo.  Scotch  Symphony. 


The  tone  of  the  chalumeau  register  is  high- 
ly individual — rich  and  mellow,  yet  with  a  cer- 
tain somberness.  Weber  was  the  first  to  ap- 
preciate fully  its  possibilities  for  dramatic  ex- 
pression, and  the  example  he  set  has  been 
followed  by  many  modern  composers.  Thus 
Tschaikowsky,  for  example,  opens  his  Fifth 
Symphony  with  a  mournful  theme  allotted  to 
two  clarinets  in  unison,  in  the  chalumeau  reg- 
ister, accompanied  by  the  low  strings:  (Figure 
XXX  ).  This  register  can  be  used  for  accom- 
paniment as  effectively  as  for  melodies,  since 
the  individuality  of  the  tone  is  sufficiently 
strong  to  color  the  whole  combination.  The 


BASS  CLARINET 


THE  CLARINET 


59 


passage  from  Dvorak  shown  in  Figure  XXIV, 
is  soon  repeated,  an  octave  lower,  the  oboes  re- 
placed by  the  clarinets  (chalumeau)  and  the 
melody  assigned  to  the  G-string  of  the  first 
violins — a  combination  of  remarkable  sonority. 


Andante. 


FIGURE  XXX. 

TSCHAIKOWSKY  :  Fifth  Symphony. 


^^ 

-m—^-:— 

*—  ^  —  r 

f> 

=*=fc= 

-1    x  _ 

i 
^*    a  * 

flgfrf~^  —  ?~i 

A-  g—  g—  j-i 

_j_,  —  * 

r  x  ; 

1        X  1- 

p^fe 

B"     • 

^2  —  »^^r 

r-g^g  ^       i 

^_l^_ 

J  —  ^ 

i  —  ^  1 

The  bass  clarinet,  of  comparatively  recent 
introduction  into  the  orchestra,  is  much  larger 
than  the  ordinary  instrument,  and  sounds  an 
octave  lower.  As  in  the  case  of  the  ordinary 
clarinet,  two  forms  are  in  use,  one  in  B-flat 
and  one  in  A.  The  quality  of  tone  is  rich,  like 
the  chalumeau  of  the  other  clarinets,  and  the 
instrument  can  be  used  either  for  solo  or  for 


60       THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 

holding  tones  in  the  lower  part  of  the  harmony. 
A  single  example  will  suffice — a  monologue  for 
bass  clarinet  in  A,  unaccompanied,  from  Liszt's 
"Dante"  Symphony:    (Figure  XXXI  ). 
FIGURE  XXXI. 

Esfressivo  dolente.  LISZT  :  "  Dante  "  Symphony. 

"T"    .  r         m       *-  ^  ^, 

clariSetjiig^ H         -L-      I     '      *l=W *r=*3 

ntf 


-3~ 


sf      ritenuto.  r*-    -^y       f^r. 

XIII. — THE    BASSOON. 

The  bassoon,  the  bass  instrument  of  the  oboe 
family,  has  a  conical  tube  about  nine  feet  long, 
which,  to  make  it  less  unwieldy,  is  doubled 
upon  itself  in  such  a  way  that  the  instrument 
looks  somewhat  like  a  bundle  of  fagots — 
whence  its  Italian  name,  "Fagotto."  Its  double 
reed  is  connected  with  it  by  a  bent  brass  tube 
for  the  convenience  of  the  player.  As  in  the 
oboe,  the  lower  register  is  obtained  by  moder- 
ate breath-pressure,  while  increased  pressure 
gives  higher  "partial"  tones.  The  complete 
range  is  shown  in  Figure  XXXII. 

FIGURE  XXXII. 
RANGE  AND  QUALITIES  OF  THE  BASSOON. 


.  .  .       .  Somewhat  like  'cello 

An  excellent  bass  Best  r,egV?ter  for          tone>  but  Burner. 

melodies. 


BASSOON 


THE  BASSOON  61 

The  bassoons  are  used  in  the  orchestra  for 
many  purposes,  chief  of  which  are:  (1)  to 
provide  or  to  reenforce  the  bass;  (2)  to  "fill 
up"  the  harmony  in  the  middle,  for  which  their 
round  yet  unobtrusive  tone  well  suits  them ;  (3) 
to  outline  secondary  melodic  figures  accom- 
panying the  chief  melody;  (4)  to  double  a 
melody  given  out  by  some  other  instrument; 
(5)  to  give  the  melody  alone. 

There  is  an  indescribable  grotesqueness  in 
the  sound  of  the  bassoon,  especially  when  it  is 
played  staccato,  that  has  earned  for  it  the  repu- 
tation of  being  "the  clown  of  the  orchestra." 
This  is  hardly  fair  to  the  versatility  of  the 
instrument ;  but  it  is  certainly  capable  of  being 
irresistibly  ludicrous.  Beethoven,  of  all  com- 
posers the  most  humorous,  has  given  the 
bassoon  a  prominent  part  in  his  most  jovial 
symphony — the  Eighth — examples  from  which 
are  shown  in  Figure  XXXIII.  Mendelssohn, 

FIGURE  XXXIII. 


(a)  Allegro  vivace. 

lit  Bassoon,  f       :J 

BBBTKOVEN  : 

*L         f- 

r-    E- 

•f  r—  i  i   f  i   -i*- 

Eighth  Symphony. 

-i'   Tl  lr 

(*)  Tempo  di  Menuetto. 

1  .'   1,  h-  — 

etc. 
Ibid. 

!-££- 

^  ^    .. 

25E=5£H£BH 

L 

" 

(.  =5sL.  H-U-4-H 

(«) 

Allegro  vivace. 

Ibid. 

J       *       J 

I.  *       J              J 

-J           1  J            ^= 

J              J           1 

(ist  Bassoon  and  Kettle  drumi  only.) 


62       THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 

in  his  "Midsummer  Night's  Dream"  music,  has 
accompanied  the  entrance  of  Quince,  Snug, 
Bottom,  and  the  rest  with  a  droll  tune  for  two 
bassoons.  M.  Vincent  d'Indy,  in  his  "Wallen- 
stein,"  suggests  the  sermon  of  a  wordy  priest 
by  a  fugue  on  the  following  theme,  given  out 
by  bassoons: 

FIGURE  XXXIV. 

VINCENT  D'INDY:  " Wallenatein." 


There  is  also  about  the  bassoon  tone,  how- 
ever, a  certain  level  drone,  a  bloodless  indiffer- 
ence and  lack  of  inflection,  that  can  well  suggest 
the  inhuman  and  the  terrifyingly  supernatural. 
Such  is  the  suggestion  of  a  remarkable  passage 
in  Meyerbeer's  "Robert  le  Diable" — the  pass- 
age for  two  bassoons  in  the  scene  of  the  rising 

of  the  nuns : 

FIGURE  XXXV. 

Andante  sostenuto.  MEYERBEER  :  "  Robert  le  Diable." 

2  Bassoons. 


CONTRABASS  CLARINET  OR  CONTRABASSOON 


THE  BASSOON 


63 


In  our  own  day  Tschaikowsky,  for  whom  the 
murky,  sinister  coloring  of  chords  in  the  ex- 
treme low  register  has  a  special  fascination,  has 
demonstrated  new  possibilities  for  this  many- 
sided  instrument  in  such  passages  as  the  fol- 
lowing, from  his  "Pathetic  Symphony": 


Adagio. 

Bassoons. 


FIGURE  XXXVI. 

TSCHAIKOWSKY  :  "  Pathetic  Symphony." 
I  Horn. 

3 


f 


.._». 
-zr  •• 


An  instrument  comparatively  seldom  em- 
ployed in  the  orchestra  is  the  contra-bassoon 
or  contra-fagotto,  related  to  the  bassoon  much 
as  the  double-bass  is  related  to  the  violoncello. 
Its  tube  being  twice  as  long,  its  pitch  is  one 
octave  lower.  Like  the  double-bass,  it  is  written 
an  octave  higher  than  it  sounds. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

XIV.— THE   BRASS    INSTRUMENTS. 

We  come  now  to  the  third  group  of  the 
orchestra,  the  brass  instruments,  of  which  the 
most  important  are  horns,  trumpets,  trombones, 
and  tuba.  These  all  differ  technically  from  the 
wood-wind  instruments  in  one  vital  respect; 
they  use  many  more  of  the  partial  tones  pro- 
duced by  different  wind-pressure,  depending 
indeed  chiefly  on  these,  and  not  on  changes  in 
the  length  of  the  tube,  for  their  alterations  of 
pitch.  They  require,  therefore,  in  the  player, 
great  delicacy  and  certainty  in  the  management 
of  the  lips  and  breath — a  complex  muscular 
adjustment  for  which  the  technical  name  is 
"embouchure,"  from  the  French  "bouche," 
mouth — which  is  the  chief  element  in  their 
technique.  The  false  notes  one  frequently  hears 
from  the  horns  are  the  result  of  slight  mis- 
calculations of  the  needed  embouchure,  or  of 
fatigue  of  the  over-strained  lip-muscles.  That 
any  one  can  play  the  horn  at  all  is  wonderful 
to  the  layman  who  has  ever  tried. 


XV.— THE    HORN. 


Let  us  imagine  a  brass  tube  sixteen  feet  in 
length,  curled  over  upon  itself  to  save  room  and 
provided  with  a  mouth-piece  at  one  end  and  a 
flaring  "bell"  at  the  other.  If  the  air-column 


FRENCH   HORN 


THE  HORN  65 

contained  in  such  a  tube  is  now  set  in  vibra- 
tion by  the  lips  of  a  player,  it  is  capable  of  pro- 
ducing the  whole  series  of  tones  shown  in  Fig- 
ure XXXVII,  which  tone  comes  out  depending 

FIGURE  XXXVII. 
(a)    SERIES  OF  PARTIAL  TONES  PRODUCIBLE  IN  A 

TUBE  SIXTEEN  FEET  LONG, 
i  3  3  4  5  689         10         12 


=t    3t 
=t 

•=>• 

(£)  AVAILABLE  PARTIAL  TONES  OF  A  "NATURAL" 
HORN  IN  E  FLAT. 

2  3  4  S.6  89  10 


on  the  force  of  the  breath  and  the  position  of 
the  lips.  These  tones  are  the  partial  tones,  or 
overtones,  of  the  low  C,  which  is  called  the 
"fundamental"  of  the  series.  Such  an  instru- 
ment was  the  old-fashioned  "horn  in  C"  of  the 
eighteenth  and  early  nineteenth  century,  the 
type  of  the  horns  used  by  the  great  classic  mas- 
ters Haydn,  Mozart,  and  Beethoven. 

It  will  be  noted  that  the  seventh  and  the 
eleventh  partial  tones  are  omitted  in  the  figure : 
this  is  because  they  are  not  in  tune  in  the  key 
(that  is,  not  in  its  scale,  being  either  too  sharp 
or  too  flat  in  pitch),  and  are  therefore  useless. 
The  partials  above  the  twelfth  are  also  omitted, 
because  to  produce  them  is  an  almost  intoler- 


66       THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 

able  strain  on  the  lips  of  the  player.  Further- 
more, the  fundamental  or  first  partial  cannot  be 
produced  with  the  mouthpiece  used,  and  the 
second  and  third  are  rather  difficult  and  seldom 
used.  Hence  the  resources  of  the  old  "horn  in 
C"  were  confined  to  the  seven  tones  beginning 
with  the  fourth  partial  in  Figure  XXXVII , 
together  with  a  few  others  which  the  player 
obtained  by  "stopping"  the  orifice  of  the  horn 
with  his  hand,  and  which  were  therefore  called 
"stopped"  tones,  and  were  of  a  slightly  veiled 
quality. 

In  order  to  make  the  old-fashioned  "natural" 
horn  (so-called  to  distinguish  it  from  the  mod- 
ern valve-horn,  to  be  explained  presently) 
available  for  other  keys  besides  C,  it  was  pro- 
vided with  small  bent  tubes  of  brass,  called 
"crooks,"  which  by  being  inserted  in  the  instru- 
ment altered  its  length,  and  thus  changed  its 
pitch.  If  the  music  was  in  the  key  of  E,  the 
player  used  the  proper  crook  to  make  his 
instrument  into  an  "E  horn";  if  in  B-flat,  he 
used  his  B-flat  crook,  etc.  But  since  it  was 
highly  necessary  that  a  glance  at  the  written 
note  should  tell  him  what  embouchure  was 
needed  to  produce  it,  no  matter  what  its  actual 
pitch  might  be,  the  horn  part  was  always  writ- 
ten in  C,  the  necessary  change  of  pitch  being 
provided  for  by  the  indication  at  the  beginning 
"Horn  in  E-flat,"  "Horn  in  F,"  etc. 

This  mode  of  notation  is  still  used,  so  that 
the  horn  is  a  transposing  instrument.  The 
score-reader  has  to  calculate  what  tone  will 


THE  HORN  67 

actually  be  sounded  by  considering  what  crook 
is  in  use.  Fortunately  for  him  the  horn  in  F  is 
used  almost  universally  nowadays,  as  being,  all 
things  considered,  the  easiest  and  best.  Since 
a  C  sounds  the  F  below  it  on  this  horn,  the 
reader  merely  has  to  remember  that  the  horn- 
part  will  sound  a  perfect  fifth  lower  than  it  is 
written. 

To  return,  however,  to  the  old-fashioned 
horn.  Even  with  its  crooks,  the  "open  tones" 
(that  is,  the  partials  of  its  natural  series,  unal- 
tered by  the  hand)  which  it  could  sound  were 
very  few,  and  its  limitations  must  often  have 
been  a  sore  trial  to  composers.  Thus,  for  ex- 
ample, Beethoven,  using  in  his  Fifth  Symphony 
two  horns  in  E-flat,  of  which  the  open  tones  are 
shown  in  Figure  XXXVII,  b,  introduces  his 
second  theme  with  a  highly  effective  fan- 
fare for  horns  alone,  consisting  of  the 
twelfth,  eighth,  ninth,  and  sixth  partial 
tones;  but  when,  later,  he  wishes  to 
repeat  this  fanfare  in  the  key  of  C-major,  he 
cannot  get  the  necessary  tones  with  his  E-flat 
horns,  and  has  to  choose  the  lesser  of  two  evils 
and  give  the  passage  to  the  bassoons,  whose 
timbre  is  hardly  appropriate  to  it.  Nowadays, 
valve-horns  being  in  use,  this  passage  is  played 
by  them,  much  to  its  advantage. 

As  an  example  of  what  can  nevertheless  be 
done  even  with  the  old-fashioned  horn  may  be 
cited  a  famous  horn  duet  from  Weber's  "Frei- 
schiitz"  Overture  (Figure  XXXVIII).  By 


68      THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 
FIGURE  XXXVIII. 


Adagio. 
Horns  in  C. 

|£—  i  ip^=— 

WEBER  :  "  Freischutz  "  Overture 

rr  ^ 
w==^^ 

—  '   -*--m- 

Horns  in  F.  Hofns  -n  c      f  Hom  {n  p  .o{ns  -n 


r 


using  two  pairs  of  horns,  one  in  C  and  one  in 
F,  and  cleverly  dividing  up  the  music  between 
them,  Weber  manages  to  get  a  surprising 
variety  of  harmony  and  melody.  Moreover, 
the  passage  is  admirably  conceived  to  display 
the  round,  full,  and  pure  tone  of  the  horn, 
which  must  ever  be  one  of  the  most  poetic  of 
instruments. 

The  vastly  increased  resources  of  the  modern 
horn  are  due  to  the  introduction  of  the  valves, 
undoubtedly  one  of  the  most  epoch-making  im- 
provements in  the  entire  history  of  the  orches- 
tra. The  valves  are  three  pistons,  operated  by 
the  fingers  of  the  player,  which  throw  into  the 
tube  additional  sections,  thus  lowering  its 
pitch.  They  are  so  arranged  that  by  their  sep- 
arate or  combined  use  the  pitch  may  be  lowered 
anywhere  from  a  semitone  to  three  whole  tones. 


THE  HORN 
FIGURE  XXXIX. 


69 


TECHNIQUE  AND  RANGE  OF  THE  VALVE-HORN  IN  F. 
Partial  No.    456  8  9  10  n 


"Openv 
tones. 


With 


With 
(or  i  and 


Range,  complete  scale  from  F ^ 
with  infrequently  used  lower  partial*  (a  and  3). 

A  glance  at  Figure  XXXIX  will  show  what 
added  possibilities  this  means.  The  first  line 
of  notes  shows  the  "open"  or  natural  tones  of 
the  horn  in  F  which,  as  we  have  said,  is  the 
horn  generally  used  to-day,  from  the  fourth  to 
the  twelfth  partial.  The  second  line  shows 
these  tones  lowered  a  semitone  by  means  of  the 
second  piston.  The  third  line  shows  them  low- 
ered a  whole  tone  by  means  of  the  first  piston. 


70      THE  ORCHESTRAL   INSTRUMENTS 

The  other  lines  show  further  lowerings  by  other 
pistons  or  combinations  of  pistons. 

Altogether  we  thus  get  the  complete  range 
of  tones  shown  in  the  same  figure,  to  which 
may  also  be  added  the  infrequently  used  second 
and  third  partial  tones.  Thanks  to  the  valves 
ani  pistons,  the  horn  is  now  as  conspicuous 
for  its  wide  availability  as  it  has  always  been 
for  nobility  of  tone.1 

One  last  interesting  fact  about  the  complex 
technique  of  the  horn  is  this:  The  embou- 
chure for  the  low  partials  is  so  different  from 
that  for  the  high  that  few  individual  players 
can  produce  both.  Hence  the  horns  are  divided 
into  pairs,  first  and  second,  and  third  and 
fourth.  The  first  and  third  players  form  the 
habit  of  producing  the  higher  partials,  the  sec- 
ond and  fourth  become  habituated  to  the  lower ; 
the  composer  bears  this  in  mind  in  writing  their 
parts. 

The  tone-quality  of  the  horn  is  unforgettable 
to  any  one  who  has  once  heard  it :  sonorous  and 
blaring  in  fortissimo,  ominous,  threatening  in 
the  "stopped  tones/'  mysterious  and  poetic  in 
pianissimo,  its  variety  is  almost  unlimited,  and 
can  hardly  be  more  than  hinted  at  in  the  few 
examples  which  our  space  permits  us.  The 
horns,  too,  though  more  suitable  for  sustained 


(1)  Strauss,  Mahler,  and  other  modern  composers  some- 
times use  also  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  partials,  by 
which  the  range  shown  In  Figure  XXXIX  Is  extended  up 
to  the  F  on  the  top  line  of  the  staff. 


THE  HORN 


71 


tones  than  for  rapid  figures,  are  used  in  a  great 
variety  of  ways.  They  may  merely  sustain  the 
harmonies,  as  they  do  with  splendid  sonority  in 
the  accompaniment  to  the  melody  of  Tschai- 
kowsky  shown  in  Figure  XII;  they  may 
intensify  some  one  strand  which  needs  to  be 
salient;  they  may  form  an  unaccompanied 
quartet  or  trio;  and  their  full,  clear  tone  is 
most  effective  in  solos,  either  alone  or  doubling 
other  instruments  such  as  the  'cello,  the  clari- 
net, or  the  oboe. 


FIGURE  XL. 


(a)  Allegro  vivace. 


BEETHOVEN  :  Eroica  Symphony. 


m 


*     X      i- 


(Strings) 


-a_l«-:p=±! 

-=~) 1 • 


fafc 


g=g=g 

y  ^* 


(Stringi) 


72       THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 


(b)  Allegro  con  ani ma.  TSCHAIKOWSKY  :  Fifth  Symphony. 


j»rt*'      -r 

gEJL^j^ 


4  Horns,    tutti. 


J=Jr* 


;  «r-  »  *-    -»-• 


'^-(Strings 
&  trom 


bones.) 


j..  JL.  JL.  yj. 


dimin. 


THE  HORN  73 

In  Figure  XL  the  reader  will  find  two  inter- 
esting passages  for  horns  used  en  masse:  in 
Figure  XLI  are  two  not  less  striking  horn 
solos.  Figure  XL,  a  is  the  beginning  of  the 
famous  and  inimitably  beautiful  trio  from  the 
scherzo  of  Beethoven's  "Eroica"  Symphony,  of 
which  Sir  George  Grove  well  said:  "If  horns 
ever  talked  like  flesh  and  blood,  they  do  it 
here."  This  entire  trio  should  be  examined  in 
the  score.  The  D-flat  for  the  second  horn  near 
the  end  (it  is  written  B-flat,  as  the  horns  are 
in  E-flat)  is  certainly  one  of  the  most  inspired 
things  in  all  music. 

Figure  XL,&,  in  a  very  different  style,  is 
taken  from  the  portion  of  Tschaikowsky's  Fifth 
Symphony,  the  first  movement,  immediately 
preceding  the  return  of  the  main  theme.  The 
gradual  diminuendo  of  horns  from  loudest  for- 
tissimo to  magical  pianissimo,  always  most 
effective,  is  nowhere  managed  better  than  here, 
where  its  aesthetic  effect  is  enhanced  by  the 
descent  from  D  to  C-sharp,  and  from  C-sharp 
to  C,  and  by  the  gradual  subsidence  of  the 
rhythmic  movement.  The  theme  in  E-minor, 
too,  with  its  quaint  suspensions,  is  eminently 
well-suited  to  the  bassoon,  and  affords  an  addi- 
tional example  for  that  instrument. 

In  solo  the  horn  is  generally  quiet  and  poetic. 
Our  two  examples,  one  from  Tschaikowsky  and 
one  from  Brahms,  call  for  no  special  comment. 
It  would  not  be  difficult  to  cite  many  other  ex- 
amples from  modern  composers,  with  whom  the 
horn  is  a  favorite  instrument. 


74      THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 


FIGURE  XLI. 

(a)  Andante  cantabile.  TSCHAIKOWSKY  :  Fifth  Symphony. 


(i)  Poco  allegretto. 


BRAHMS  :  Third  Symphony. 


.   k    - — t^—^-t 1 — l^^g^-         '*^^-i 


^C*  i fe^-i — ^"""*^   1 — -\ 

j 

-J--  *--4r-^^teri^ 


XVI. — THE   TRUMPET. 

In  many  respects  like  the  horn,  the  trumpet 
has  a  tube  only  half  as  long,  and  is  therefore 
in  pitch  an  octave  higher.  Like  the  horn,  it 
is  provided  with  crooks  to  change  its  general 
pitch,  and  with  valves  to  give  tones  not  pro- 


TRUMPET 


THE  TRUMPET  75 

vided  for  by  its  natural  series  of  partials.  This 
series  of  partials,  on  a  trumpet  in  C,  eight  feet 
long,  would  be  one  octave  higher  than  the  series 
shown  in  Figure  XXXVII, a.  Like  the  horn, 
the  trumpet  cannot  sound  the  fundamental  tone 
(partial  No.  1)  and  can  sound  only  with  great 
difficulty  partials  higher  than  the  twelfth. 

The  usage  of  composers  in  the  selection  of 
the  crooks  differs :  some  use  whenever  possible 
trumpets  in  the  key  in  which  they  are  writing; 
others  use  almost  invariably  either  the  trumpet 
in  A  or  that  in  B-flat,  the  transpositions  of 
which  are  exactly  like  those  of  the  A  and  B 
clarinets  (see  page  54).  In  our  examples,  how- 
ever, as  in  those  for  the  other  transposing  in- 
struments, we  shall  write  the  tones  just  as  they 
sound. 

"The  quality  of  tone  of  the  trumpet/'  says 
Berlioz,  "is  noble  and  brilliant;  it  comports 
with  warlike  ideas,  with  cries  of  fury  and  of 
vengeance,  as  with  songs  of  triumph;  it  lends 
itself  to  the  expression  of  all  energetic,  lofty, 
and  grand  sentiments,  and  to  the  majority  of 
tragic  accents."  The  military  associations  of 
the  instrument  make  themselves  keenly  felt  in 
those  fanfares  for  several  trumpets  together,  of 
which  Mendelssohn  and  Wagner  have  given 
such  stirring  specimens  in  their  famous 
marches.  Less  frequently  are  they  used  for 
sustained  melodies,  but  they  are  nevertheless 
highly  effective  in  such  use  when  the  themes 
themselves  are  of  triumphant  or  jubilant  char- 
acter. Dvorak  gives  to  trumpets  and  horns, 


76       THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 


accompanied  by  great  chords  of  the  full  orches- 
tra on  the  accents,  one  of  the  themes  of  his 
"New  World"  Symphony  (Figure  XLJI.a). 

FIGURE  XLII. 

(a)  A llegro con  fuoco.         DVORAK:  " New  World "  Symphony. 
(a  Trumpets  and  2  Horns.) 


ff 


^  \  £- 


r~^TE 
3=^3^ 


=*-==£ 
-•&=*=• 


(ist  Trumpet  an  octave  higher.) 

Z3 


m 


,  • 


•y* 


^— -s- 


fm0T^ — i- 


r  r  'r 


Allegro. 


BRAHMS  :  Academic  Overture. 
I  ! 


foto. 


\      (Horn.) 


Y 

\    (3rdTr.) 


pp  (Kettledrum.) 


The  brilliantly  sonorous  quality  of  the  trum- 
pet tone  in  forte  makes  it  easily  stand  out  above 
all  the  other  sounds  of  the  full  orchestra.  Thus 
used,  however,  it  is  generally  accompanied  by 


TROMBONE 


TROMBONES  AND  TUBA  77 

trombones  and  tuba,  and  we  shall  therefore 
postpone  our  examples  of  this  kind  of  passage 
until  we  have  studied  those  instruments. 

In  its  softer  accents  the  trumpet  is  wonder- 
fully clear,  round,  and  pure,  with  a  most  imag- 
ination-stirring suggestion  of  distance  and  mys- 
tery. With  high  poetic  fancy  Schubert  intro- 
duces, during  one  of  the  repetitions  of  the  oboe 
theme  of  the  slow  movement  of  his  C-major 
Symphony,  a  soft  trumpet  call  which  lends  the 
music  an  indescribable  charm.  It  is  like  a 
slender  line  of  scarlet  in  a  quiet  colored  paint- 
ing. (Full  score,  Peters  edition,  page  43.)  A 
not  less  lovely  passage,  for  three  trumpets. 
piano,  from  Brahms's  "Academic"  Overture  is 
shown  in  Figure  XLJI.fc. 

XVII.— TROMBONES    AND    TUBA. 

Though  its  name  means  in  Italian  "great 
trumpet,"  the  trombone  differs  from  the  trum- 
pet in  two  most  important  respects.  First,  the 
shape  of  the  tube  is  such  (see  the  illustration) 
that  its  lengthening  can  be  managed  by  means 
of  a  section  which  slides  in  and  out,  instead  of 
by  means  of  valves  and  pistons  (hence  its  name 
of  "slide-trombone"1).  Secondly,  the  tube  is 
so  much  wider  than  in  horn  and  trumpet  that 
the  rich  first  partial  tone  (fundamental)  un- 
available on  those  instruments,  can  be  sounded. 
A  slight  compensating  disadvantage  is  that  the 

(1)  There  IB  also  a  valve-trombone  In  common  use  tn 
military  bands,  of  which  the  tone  is,  however,  far  Inferior 
to  that  of  the  orchestral  Instrument.  "It  will  be  an  evil 
day  for  the  orchestra,"  says  Professor  Prout,  "If  this  In- 
strument, easier  to  play,  should  ever  supplant  the  nobU 
elide  trombone." 


78       THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 

upper  partials,  above  the  eighth,  are  difficult 
and  seldom  used. 

As  the  slide  is  capable  of  the  most  minute 
adjustments,  the  trombone  need  never  be  even 
slightly  out  of  tune,  as  are  certain  tones  of  the 
horn  and  trumpet.  Moreover,  owing  to  its 
straight  tube,  free  from  those  sharp  corners 
introduced  by  valves,  its  air-column  vibrates 
more  evenly  and  regularly,  giving  it  a  sonority 
incomparably  rich.  For  pure  four-part  har- 
mony in  simple  chords  there  is  no  medium  like 
the  quartet  of  trombones. 

FIGURE  XLIII. 

"POSITIONS"  AND  RANGE  OF  THE  COMMON 
TENOR  TROMBONE. 

Partial  No.  i  a  3.4  5  6  8 


First        I 

.«,  e,  _£_ 

Position.    I 
Second      f 

•                      vi*                             \  \i/                f^ 
£  ^=^t 

—  d 
=, 

Third        [ 

•S-2  z=  K»                 —  — 

=                     JW 

—C*  1 

fcv 

m?  ^~f  

Position.     1 
Fifth        1 

^  ?        m 

1 

Sixth       1 

—  $^  —             TTJS-  — 

-T-r.  ^  89-fl  

J-D          A 

Position. 

Seventh     1 
Position. 

S=            n  -—4  

1 

•-a-               tr^- 

-Blc  1=  SZ~ 

-^ 

-(gg  f^  —  

q 

TROMBONES  AND  TUBA  79 

Range  (exclusive  of  the  rarely    r<!%V 
used  "  pedal  notes  ") :  pSgi 


Range  of  the  Bass  Tuba :  hfc£ .-- 


Trombones  are  made  in  various  sizes,  the 
most  important  of  which  is  the  tenor  trombone 
in  B-flat.  This  is  of  such  proportions  that 
when  the  slide  is  closed  (which  is  called  "first 
position")  the  tube  gives  out  the  first  series  of 
tones  shown  in  Figure  XLIII.  Six  other  posi- 
tions, obtained  by  gradually  drawing  out  the 
slide,  give  the  other  series  shown  in  the  figure, 
each  a  semitone  lower  than  the  preceding,  as 
in  the  series  obtained  on  the  horn  by  the  use 
of  valves  (compare  Figure  XXXIX).  The 
fundamental  tones  are  easily  obtainable  only  in 
the  first  four  positions,  and  are  seldom  used. 

There  are  also  bass  trombones  having  a 
range  somewhat  lower  than  the  tenor,  and  there 
were  formerly  in  use  alto,  and  even  soprano, 
trombones.  The  modern  usage  is  however  to 
write  either  for  three  tenor  trombones,  or  for 
two  tenors  and  a  bass,  to  which  are  often  added 
a  part  for  the  bass  tuba,  which  will  be  described 
in  a  moment. 

The  trombones  are  not  transposing  instru- 
ments, but  are  written  where  they  sound. 

The  bass  tuba  is  an  instrument  of  the  sax- 
horn family  (the  other  members  of  which  are 
used  only  in  military  bands)  ;  its  tone  merges  so 
well  with  that  of  trombones  that  it  is  often  used 


80       THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 

with  them  to  form  a  brass  quartet.  It  is  a 
valve-instrument  of  enormous  proportions  and 
very  low  pitch.  The  range  of  the  most  com- 
mon tuba,  sometimes  called  the  Bombardon,  is 
shown  in  Figure  XLJII. 

The  three  trombones  and  tuba,  forming  what 
we  may  call  for  convenience  the  trombone 
choir,  constitute  the  most  powerfully  sonorous 
group  of  the  entire  orchestra,  capable  of  dom- 
inating everything  else.  It  must  be  confessed 
that  this  choir  is  often  used  vulgarly  in  mod- 
ern scores,  for  the  sake  of  mere  noise;  Prout 
cleverly  remarks  of  it  that  "like  charity,  it  cov- 
ers a  multitude  of  sins."  Properly  used,  never- 
theless, it  is  incomparably  noble  and  moving. 
It  "suggests  to  the  imagination,"  says  M. 
Gevaert,  "the  idea  of  a  power  strange  to  man, 
superior  to  man:  a  power  sometimes  benign, 
sometimes  sinister,  but  always  redoubtable." 

FIGURE  XLIV. 

TSCHAIKOWSKY  :  "  Pathetic  Symphony." 
(a)  Allegro  vivo.  Min.  score,  p.  58. 


4  Horns. 


a  Trumpets. 


(N.  B.— Strings  and  wood-wind  fill  up  the  rests.) 


TUBA 


TROMBONES  AND  TUBA  81 

(6)  Andante.  Ibid,  p.  133. 


We  cite  two  examples  from  Tschaikowsky's 
greatest  symphony  (Figure  XLJV),  one  fortis- 
simo in  a  "tutti"  the  other  />iano  and  unaccom- 
panied. In  the  first  the  trumpets  play  an  octave 
higher  than  the  upper  trombones,  while  the 
four  horns  complete  the  harmony;  this  is  an 
excellent  illustration  of  the  use  of  all  the  brass 
instruments  in  a  "tutti,"  of  which  we  post- 
poned discussion  above.  The  student  will  find 
it  well  worth  while  to  play  over  the  parts  sep- 
arately, and  then  imagine  the  combined  effect. 

In  the  great  majority  of  "tuttis"  the  brass  is 
grouped  in  close  harmonies  in  somewhat  this 
fashion,  making  a  solid  core  of  harmony  in  the 
sonorous  middle  register,  to  which  high  strings 
and  wood-wind  add  brilliancy.  This  is  the 
scheme  in  the  climax  of  the  same  composer's 
Fifth  Symphony,  of  which  a  page  of  the  full 
score  is  reproduced  in  Figure  XLVI. 

Sometimes,  again,  the  trombones  or  the 
trumpets  are  used  alone,  not  to  give  full  har- 


82      THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 

mony  but  to  blare  forth  some  imposing  theme. 
In  the  miniature  score  of  the  Pathetic  Sym- 
phony the  reader  will  find,  at  page  69,  an  extra- 
ordinarily impressive  use  of  the  trombones  in 
this  way,  and  at  page  44  a  similar  use  of  the 
trumpets.  Indeed  this  score  exhibits  model  after 
model  of  what  we  may  without  undue  paradox 
call  the  legitimately  sensational  use  of  the  brass. 
One  may  also  consult  the  scores  of  Wagner  or 
of  Richard  Strauss,  but  not  without  finding 
some  passages  in  which  there  is  less  music  than 
noise. 


KETTLEDRUMS 


CHAPTER  V. 

XVIII.— PERCUSSION    INSTRUMENTS. 

By  far  the  least  important  department  of  the 
orchestra  is  the  group  of  percussion  instru- 
ments, many  fine«works  not  employing  them  at 
all.  They  are  divided,  as  we  saw  in  Section  II, 
into  two  classes,  according  as  the  vibration  is 
started  by  stretched  membranes  or  by  metallic 
bodies.  The  most  important  members  of  the 
first  class  are  the  kettledrums  or  "timpani"  and 
the  bass-drum ;  the  most  important  of  the  sec- 
ond class  are  the  cymbals. 

The  kettledrums,  hemispheres  of  copper  over 
which  are  stretched  parchment  "heads"  capable 
of  adjustment  by  screws,  have  the  great  ad- 
vantage over  other  drums  that  they  can  give 
forth  definite  tones  instead  of  mere  noises.  Two 
kettledrums,  general  tuned  to  the  tonic  and 
dominant,  are  found  in  the  classic  orchestra; 
three  or  four,  often  tuned  for  special  effects, 
and  even  retuned  in  the  course  of  a  movement, 
are  used  by  modern  composers. 

While  the  most  constant  function  of  the  ket- 
tledrums is  to  add  their  throb  to  the  excitement 
of  "tuttis,"  they  are  capable  of  delightful  ef- 
fects in  piano  and  pianissimo,  either  alone  or 
as  a  bass  for  light  combinations.  Beethoven 
first  discerned  all  their  possibilities  in  this  direc- 
tion, and  his  symphonies  abound  in  interesting 
kettledrum  passages. 


84      THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 

Since  Beethoven  the  quasi-solo  use  of  the 
kettledrums  is  not  infrequent.  Let  it  suffice, 
however,  to  quote  one  striking  example — the 
announcement  in  Wagner's  "Walkure"  of  the 
Hunding  motive  by  one  kettledrum,  almost  un- 
accompanied (Figure  XLV). 


Moderate. 
(Brass.) 


FIGURE  XLV. 

WAGNER  :  "Die  Walkure.' 


ST'W 

Kettledrums. 

-pr  L  —  |  —  q  I..?,. 

3 

**79  marcato.                                  g^g 

(Cellos  and 
Brasses.) 

The  bass  drum,  which  has  been  made  so 
familiar  by  the  Salvation  Army  as  to  need  no 
description,  gives  out  no  definite  tone  and  is 
used  merely  for  rhythmical  accentuation.  When 
played  forte,  especially  if  combined,  as  it  often 
is,  with  the  cymbals,  it  can  very  easily  be 
abused,  but  in  piano  and  pianissimo  it  is  capable 
of  fine  effects.  It  is  most  subtly  used,  for  ex- 
ample, at  the  beginning  of  Brahms's  "Academic 
Overture." 


BASS  DRUM 


PERCUSSION  INSTRUMENTS  85 

The  cymbals  are  two  disks  of  metal  which 
when  struck  together  emit  a  noisy  but  most  ex- 
citing clangor.  They  are  usually  employed 
with  the  bass-drum,  though  Wagner  in  the 
"Tannhauser"  Overture,  uses  them  alone  for 
the  Venusberg  music.  They  may  also  be  played 
piano,  and  a  very  happy  effect  is  sometimes 
obtained  by  striking  one  suspended  cymbal  with 
a  drum-stick. 

The  triangle  is  a  small  bar  of  steel,  bent  as  its 
name  suggests,  and  struck  by  a  steel  rod.  It 
emits  a  delicate,  ethereal  tinkle,  especially  de- 
lightful in  soft  dance  music. 

The  glockenspiel  is  a  series  of  metal  bars, 
emitting  definite  tones  when  struck  by  ham- 
mers in  the  fashion  made  familiar  by  the  xylo- 
phone dear  to  children. 

The  gong,  or  tamtam,  of  Chinese  origin,  a 
large  metal  disk  played  with  a  bass-drum  stick, 
is  the  most  sinister  of  all  the  percussion  instru- 
ments, and  is  used  only  in  highly  dramatic 
moments. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

XIX. — ORCHESTRAL,    COMBINATIONS. 

The  possible  combinations  of  orchestral  in- 
struments are  practically  infinite.  Even  to  hint 
at  their  extraordinary  variety  would  be  im- 
possible within  the  limits  of  the  present  dis- 
cussion ;  nevertheless,  so  important  a  matter  as 
orchestral  combinations  must  be  at  least 
touched  upon  here,  however  inadequately. 

Merely  to  get  a  glimpse  of  the  bewildering 
possibilities,  let  us  suppose  we  wish  to  orches- 
trate a  single  melody,  without  accompaniment. 
Without  going  beyond  the  wood-wind  instru- 
ments we  can  find  the  following  excellent  com- 
binations for  it:  (1)  flutes  and  oboes,  in  octaves 
or  in  unison;  (2)  flutes  and  clarinets,  in  oc- 
taves or  in  unison;  (3)  oboes  and  clarinets 
(best  in  unison)  ;  (4)  flutes  and  bassoons,  two 
octaves  apart  (a  favorite  medium  with  Mo- 
zart) ;  (5)  oboes  and  bassoons  in  octaves 
(infrequent  but  possible) ;  (6)  clarinets  and 
bassoons,  in  octaves,  common  and  excellent; 
(7),  flutes,  clarinets,  and  bassoons,  playing  in 
three  octaves  simultaneously.  This  without 
going  beyond  the  wood-wind  group,  and  with 
a  single  melody.  If  we  add  the  horns,  trum- 
pets, trombones,  and  strings,  the  resources  are 
amazing. 

It  may  be  said  in  passing  that  single  melodies 
in  orchestral  music  are  more  often  given  in 


SNARE  DRUM 


ORCHESTRAL  COMBINATIONS  87 

octaves  than  in  unison,  in  order  better  to  fill 
the  large  canvas,  so  to  speak.  Fine  effects  are, 
however,  possible  in  unison :  an  extreme  case 
is  the  opening  theme  of  Bizet's  L'Arlesienne 
Suite,  played  by  English  horn,  clarinets,  alto 
saxophone,  bassoons,  horns,  first  and  second 
violins,  violas,  and  violoncellos,  not  in  octaves 
but  in  unison.  The  tone  thus  produced  is  of 
remarkable  sonority — what  the  French  call  a 
"well-nourished"  tone. 

Passing  over  the  possible  combinations  of 
two  and  three  melodies  or  "parts"  ("voices") 
sounding  at  once,  making  what  is  called  two 
and  three-part  harmony,  we  come  to  the  more 
usual  combination  of  four  parts,  of  which  the 
prototype  is  the  vocal  quartet  of  soprano,  alto, 
tenor,  and  bass.  Without  going  beyond  the 
wood-wind  and  horns,  we  can  get  the  follow- 
ing quartets  for  such  four-part  harmony:  (1) 
flutes  and  clarinets;  (2)  clarinets  and  bas- 
soons—  (these  are  the  commonest  four-part 
combinations) ;  (3)  oboes  and  clarinets,  which 
do  not  mix  quite  so  well,  but  can  be  most 
effective,  especially  if  the  two  pairs  of  instru- 
ments "straddle,"  that  is  if  the  upper  clarinet  is 
written  above  the  lower  oboe;  (4)  oboes  and 
horns;  (5)  clarinets  and  horns;  (6)  bassoons 
and  horns.  The  strings  and  the  brass  are  also 
capable  of  many  varying  four-part  combina- 
tions, and  of  course  there  are  endless  cross- 
combinations  between  the  various  groups. 

"Tutti"  passages  are  as  a  general  rule  built 
up  on  four-part  harmony,  many  instruments 


88       THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 

merely  "doubling"  others,  either  in  unison  or 
at  a  distance  of  one  or  more  octaves.  In  the 
music  of  Haydn  and  Mozart  we  frequently  find 
chords  in  which  the  strings,  playing  four-part 
harmony,  are  doubled  by  the  wood-wind,  the 
horns  and  trumpets  usually  being  given  the 
most  important  tone  of  the  chord,  on  account 
of  their  prominence.  In  another  kind  of  "tutti" 
we  may  find  the  strings  bunched  low  down,  the 
wood-wind  playing  the  same  tones  in  higher 
octaves:  in  such  cases  the  wood-wind  instru- 
ments are  frequently  not  heard  individually 
but  simply  add  brightness  to  the  quality  of  the 
strings,  merging  with  them  as  overtones  merge 
with  their  fundamentals. 

In  the  "tuttis"  of  modern  works  the  arrange- 
ment is  often  a  very  different  one,  for  two 
reasons.  In  the  first  place,  the  great  increase 
in  the  number  of  brass  instruments  in  modern 
orchestras  has  given  to  this  department  such 
powerful  sonority  that  no  single  pair  of  wind 
instruments,  nor  even  a  single  group  of  strings 
such  as  the  second  violins  or  violas,  can  bal- 
ance it.  Consequently  a  division  of  each  group 
in  four  parts,  such  as  we  find  in  older  scores, 
would  be  ineffective.  In  the  second  place, 
modern  composers  have  so  keen  a  sense  of 
tone-color  that  they  prefer  a  distinct  color  for 
each  part  or  voice  to  the  mingling  of  colors 
obtained  by  the  older  method.  They  accord- 
ingly give  one  part  entirely  to  the  strings,  play- 
ing in  several  octaves  the  same  notes,  another 
part  to  the  wood- wind,  doubled  in  the  same 
way,  and  a  third  to  the  brass. 


CYMBALS 


ORCHESTRAL  COMBINATIONS  89 

An  example  will  make  this  clear.  Figure 
XLVI  shows  the  full  score  of  one  of  the 
climaxes  in  the  first  movement  of  Tschaikow- 
sky's  Fifth  Symphony.  In  the  second  measure 
the  harmony  is  what  is  technically  called  the 
six-four  chord  of  E-major,  viz.  B,  E,  G-sharp, 
B.  Now  notice  the  way  the  instruments  are 
divided.  The  E  and  the  G-sharp  are  entrusted 
entirely  to  the  powerful  brasses,  four  horns 
(their  notes  written  a  fifth  higher  than  they 
sound)  and  two  trombones.  In  order  to  make 
themselves  heard  against  this  formidable  array 
of  brass,  all  the  strings  are  concentrated  on  the 
tone  B,  giving  it  four  different  octaves;  they 
are  moreover  further  re-enforced  by  flutes  and 
piccolo,  clarinets,  and  first  bassoon.  The  low 
B  is  taken  by  doublebasses,  drums,  second  bas- 
soon, third  trombone,  and  tuba.  The  oboes  and 
trumpets  are  withheld  in  order  to  enter  on 
another  "part"  at  the  fourth  measure. 

Had  Tschaikowsky  been  using  only  two  in- 
stead of  four  horns,  and  no  trombones  and 
tuba,  he  would  not  have  found  it  necessary  to 
muster  so  many  instruments  on  the  high  B. 
He  might  then  have  doubled  his  horns  with  his 
clarinets  and  bassoons,  possibly  also  with  his 
violas  and  violoncellos.  This  matter  of  balance 
of  tone,  as  it  is  called,  is  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant and  interesting  in  orchestration;  mas- 
tery of  it  comes  to  a  composer  only  as  the  result 
of  long  experience,  and  even  the  masters  some- 
times miscalculate,  as  does  Schubert  for  ex- 
ample, near  the  end  of  the  first  movement  of 


90      THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 


ORCHESTRAL  COMBINATIONS 


91 


§ 


E 

u 

p 


a 

* 

w 


92      THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 

his  C-major  Symphony,  where  he  smothers 
his  theme,  assigned  to  wood-wind  and  horns, 
under  a  too  heavy  mass  of  strings,  trombones, 
and  drums. 

Even  in  passages  where  the  whole  orchestra 
is  not  employed,  modern  composers  often  as- 
sign each  harmonic  part  to  a  special  group  of 
instruments  instead  of  dividing  the  parts  up 
among  the  various  instruments  of  the  several 
groups  after  the  fashion  of  the  classical  writers. 
This,  as  we  suggested  above,  is  largely  due  to 
their  love  of  strongly  marked  tone-color,  since 
this  method  of  scoring  achieves  wondrous  clar- 
ity and  contrast. 

Those  who  own  the  miniature  score  of 
Tschaikowsky's  Fifth  Symphony  will  find  a 
striking  instance  at  page  21.  Here  the  texture 
of  the  music  consists  of  a  chief  melody  (the 
second  theme  of  the  movement),  a  subsidiary 
melodic  figure,  a  "filling-up"  part,  and  the  bass. 
These  four  parts  might  have  been  divided  up 
among  the  strings,  and  suitably  re-enforced  by 
wood-wind  doublings,  but  such  a  treatment 
would  have  been  dull  and  lifeless  in  comparison 
with  the  one  Tschaikowsky  adopts.  By  giv- 
ing the  main  melody  to  violins  alone,  in  two 
octaves,  and  the  subsidiary  figures  to  flutes, 
oboes,  clarinets,  and  bassoons,  in  three  octaves, 
he  gets  a  complete  contrast  between  the  tone- 
colors  of  the  two  designs,  by  virtue  of  which 
each  stands  out  in  a  splendid  saliency.  Both 
in  its  daring  and  in  its  success  this  method  of 
scoring  reminds  one  of  the  impressionistic 


1 


TRIANGLE 


ORCHESTRAL  COMBINATIONS  93 

painter's  use  of  unmixed  pigments,  set  side  by 
side  on  the  canvas. 

The  ineffectiveness  of  Schumann's  orchestra- 
tion, so  much  discussed  by  critics,  is  largely  due 
to  loss  of  purity  of  colors  through  injudicious 
mixing  (doubling).  His  method  is  in  this 
respect  at  the  opposite  pole  from  that  of 
Tschaikowsky.  He  seems  afraid  to  entrust  a 
melody  to  any  one  instrument,  and  forgets  that 
by  doubling  it  with  an  instrument  of  different 
family  he  loses  as  much  in  purity  of  color  as 
he  gains  in  volume  of  sound.  Through  this 
persistent  mixture  of  colors  the  relief  of  con- 
trast is  lost,  and  the  clearness  of  the  design  is 
apt  to  suffer  as  much  as  the  charm  of  the 
material. 

One  other  principle  of  orchestration  de- 
serves a  word  here.  Just  as  the  lines  or 
melodies,  on  the  clearness  and  grace  of  which 
the  beauty  of  the  music  chiefly  depends,  may 
be  dangerously  obscured  by  too  great  similarity 
of  tone-color,  they  may  also  obscure  one  an- 
other by  getting  too  near  together.  The  ear's 
power  to  distinguish  tones  in  a  single  region 
of  pitch  is  limited.  For  this  reason  it  would 
be  most  unwise  to  place  a  melody  and  its  ac- 
companiment in  the  same  register.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  would  be  monotonous  to  place 
it  always  above  its  accompaniment.  In  the 
best  scores,  then,  we  find  the  melody  some- 
times above,  sometimes  below,  but  always 
clearly  separated  from  its  accompaniment, 
either  in  register  or  by  contrast  of  tone-color. 


94       THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 

The  works  of  Dvorak,  who  is  much  addicted 
to  accompaniments  above  the  melody,  may  be 
consulted  by  those  anxious  to  study  further 
this  phase  of  orchestration. 


GLOCKENSPIEL 


CHAPTER  VII. 

XX. — SCORES    AND    SCORE -READING. 

Music-lovers  who  have  had  little  practice  in 
reading  music  are  apt  to  fancy  themselves  quite 
unable  to  get  anything  from  the  complicated 
pages  of  a  full  score.  With  its  many  staves, 
its  various  clefs,  and  its  mysterious  appearance 
of  being  in  several  keys  at  the  same  time,  it  is 
indeed  at  first  bewildering;  nevertheless  with 
a  little  study  the  veriest  tyro  can  gather  from 
it  much  information,  much  stimulus  to  closer 
attention  and  keener  delight.  Now  that  most 
of  the  classical  symphonies  and  the  best  mod- 
ern works  can  be  obtained  in  miniature  scores 
that  fit  in  the  pocket  and  cost  little,  there  is  no 
excuse  for  those  who  do  not  learn  something 
about  this  fascinating  department  of  music. 

Let  us  suppose  a  person  who  knows  nothing 
whatever  about  music  (to  take  an  extreme 
case),  but  likes  it  and  wants  to  learn  what  he 
can  of  the  orchestra.  First  of  all,  he  must 
spend  fifteen  minutes  over  some  simple  account 
of  time  in  music,  the  note-values,  counting, 
the  accent,  the  difference  between  double  and 
triple  time,  etc.  Next,  he  knows  that  tones 
are  represented  by  the  notes  on  the  staff,  that 
when  these  get  higher  the  tones  "go  up,"  when 
they  get  lower  the  tones  "come  down,"  when 
they  are  wide  apart  there  is  a  jump  in  the  mel- 
ody, etc.,  etc.  Now  let  him  take  up  the  score 
of  a  symphony  he  is  to  hear  performed. 


%      THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 

He  will  notice  that  the  various  groups  of  in- 
struments are  assigned  different  parts  of  the 
page.  The  five  lines  at  the  bottom  are  the 
strings,  the  nucleus  of  the  orchestra,  and  the 
most  important  staff  in  the  entire  score  is  that 
fifth  one  from  the  bottom — that  of  the  first 
violins.  The  wood-wind  is  at  the  top  of  the 
page,  generally  in  this  order:  flutes,  oboes, 
clarinets,  bassoons ;  the  bass  clef  of  the  bassoon 
part  is  a  means  of  locating  at  a  glance  the  line 
separating  wood  from  brass.  In  the  middle  of 
the  page  comes  the  brass;  one  or  two  staves 
for  horns,  one  for  trumpets,  and  two  for  trom- 
bones and  tuba.  Between  brass  and  strings  are 
noted  the  percussion  instruments,  usually  mere- 
ly kettledrums. 

The  next  step  is  to  get  some  idea  of  what  is 
going  on.  For  this  purpose  the  great  clue  for 
our  tyro  is  the  time.  As  the  orchestra  plays, 
let  him  count  with  it,  being  sure  that  "one" 
always  comes  on  the  accent.  Then  if  he  sim- 
ply remembers  the  note-values,  and  bears  in 
mind  that  whatever  instrument  has  the  melody 
at  any  given  moment  will  show  a  more  solid, 
continuous  line  of  notes  than  the  others,  he 
will  be  able  to  follow  on  after  a  fashion.  Of 
course  he  will  get  no  very  definite  ideas  at 
first :  if  he  manages  to  keep  up  at  all  he  will  do 
well ;  even  better  if  he  manages  to  tell  when  the 
melody  is  in  the  hands  of  a  stringed  instru- 
ment, when  of  a  wood  or  brass.  But  with  re- 
peated trials  he  will  be  gratified  to  find  that  he 
learns  more  each  time,  constantly  discovering 
new  beauties. 


TAMTAM 


SCORES  AND  SCORE-READING          97 

Eventually  the  neophyte  may  find  himself 
sufficiently  interested  to  "learn  his  notes"  and 
to  acquire  some  degree  of  proficiency  in  hear- 
ing with  the  eye,  as  it  has  been  called ;  that  is, 
in  the  ability  to  form  a  mental  image  of  mel- 
odies and  chords  noted  on  paper.  One  pos- 
sessed of  such  powers  can  of  course  get  much 
more  from  a  score  than  he  who  follows  only 
rhythms  and  up-and-down  motion  of  melodies. 
At  the  same  time  he  will  find  his  difficulties  in- 
creased by  the  varying  clefs  and  by  the  trans- 
positions, to  which  the  other  need  pay  no  at- 
tention. For  the  sake  of  this  more  careful 
reader  the  various  disconcerting  tricks  of  the 
instruments,  in  the  order  in  which  they  occur 
in  the  score,  may  now  be  briefly  recapitulated. 

Flutes.  Sound  as  written.  Piccolo  or  small 
flute  sounds  an  octave  higher.  (N.  B.  in  the 
Tschaikowsky  score  shown  in  Figure  XLVI 
the  first  two  staves  are  for  the  two  flutes,  the 
third  for  the  piccolo.)  The  two  flutes  are 
usually  written  on  one  staff.  The  abbreviation 
"a  2"  indicates  that  both  play  the  notes  writ- 
ten; the  Roman  numerals  I  or  II  indicate  that 
either  the  first  or  the  second  flute  plays. 

Oboes.     Sound  as  written. 

Clarinets.  B-flat  clarinet  sounds  a  major 
second  lower  than  written :  A  clarinet  a  minor 
third  lower.  In  Figure  XLVI,  the  symphony 
being  in  E-minor,  Tschaikowsky  uses  A  clari- 
nets playing  in  G-minor;  hence  the  signature 
of  two  flats  in  the  clarinet  part. 

Bassoons.     Sound  as  written.     The  F-clef 


98      THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 

is  used  for  the  lower  registers,  for  the  higher 
the  tenor  clef  which  makes  the  fourth  line  of 
the  staff  middle  C. 

Horns.  If  F-horns  are  used  the  parts  will 
be  written  a  fifth  higher  than  they  sound.  No 
signature,  however,  is  used  in  the  horn  part, 
all  the  accidentals  being  written  in  as  they 
occur.  If  other  than  F-horns  are  used  one  can 
easily  calculate  the  transposition  by  bearing  in 
mind  that  the  note  written  C  will  sound  the 
tone  for  which  the  horn  is  named,  and  that  this 
note  will  in  every  case  be  below  that  written. 
There  are,  however,  two  different  horns  in  B- 
flat:  the  horn  in  B-flat  alto  sounds  a  major 
second  lower  than  written ;  that  in  B-flat  basso 
sounds  a  major  ninth  lower. 

Trumpets.  If  A  or  B-flat  crooks  are  used 
the  transposition  is  exactly  as  in  the  similar 
clarinets  (see  page  97).  In  all  the  other  trum- 
pets in  common  use  the  transposition  can  be 
calculated  on  the  principle  just  suggested  for 
the  horn,  viz.,  by  bearing  in  mind  that  the  note 
written  C  will  sound  the  tone  for  which  the 
trumpet  is  named.  These  tones,  however,  in 
the  case  of  the  trumpet,  are  above  instead  of 
below  the  note  written.  No  signature  is  used 
for  the  trumpet  part. 

Trombones.  The  first  and  second  trom- 
bones are  usually  written  with  the  tenor  clef, 
bringing  middle  C  on  the  fourth  line.  The 
third  trombone  and  tuba  are  written  on  a  sec- 
ond staff  with  the  ordinary  F-clef. 

Kettledrums.     Written  where  they  sound. 


TAMBOURINE 


CASTANETS 


SCORES  AND  SCORE-READING          99 

Violins.    Written  where  they  sound. 

Viola.  The  alto  clef  is  used,  bringing  mid- 
dle C  on  the  third  line. 

Violoncello.  When  the  'cello  goes  very  high 
the  tenor  clef  is  sometimes  used,  or  even  the  G- 
clef. 

Double-bass.  Sounds  an  octave  lower  than 
written. 


APPENDIX. 


ORCHESTRAL  CHART,    SHOWING  THE  RANGES 
AND  QUALITIES  OF  THE  ORCHESTRAL  IN- 
STRUMENTS IN   RELATION  TO  THE 
PIANOFORTE  KEYBOARD. 


(See  Frontispiece.} 


The  object  of  this  chart  is  to  present  in  com- 
pact form,  for  easy  reference,  the  main  facts  as 
to  the  ranges,  and  qualities  in  various  registers, 
of  the  commonly  used  orchestral  instruments. 
As  several  different  clefs  are  used  in  writing 
for  these  instruments,  and  as  many  of  them  are 
"transposing  instruments"  (i.  e.,  sounding 
higher  or  lower  than  written),  it  is  not  at  all 
an  easy  matter  to  gain  from  books  on  orches- 
tration a  clear  idea  of  their  relations,  such 
as  is  afforded  here  by  representing  the  actual 
sounds  of  all  instruments  as  they  compare  with 
those  of  the  piano. 

The  instruments  are  here  arranged  in  the 
order  in  which  they  are  found  in  orchestral 
scores:  at  the  top  of  the  chart  are  the  wood- 
wind instruments,  extending  down  to  the  first 
heavy  double  line ;  then  come  the  brass  instru- 
ments, extending  to  the  next  double  line;  and 
finally  the  strings,  extending  from  there  to  the 
keyboard.  After  finding  the  name  of  any 


APPENDIX  101 

instrument  you  wish  to  investigate,  note  the 
lines  which  indicate  the  limits  of  its  range ;  fol- 
low these  down  to  the  keyboard  by  means  of 
the  guiding  lines;  thus  you  find  the  entire 
range.  The  transverse  lines  divide  this  range 
up  into  registers,  each  of  which  is  character- 
ized by  a  descriptive  phrase. 

In  some  instruments  the  limits  of  the  range, 
depending  somewhat  on  the  skill  of  the  player, 
are  variable.  In  such  cases  it  must  be  under- 
stood that  the  limits  shown  on  the  chart  may 
sometimes  be  exceeded;  the  author's  plan  has 
been  to  give  the  conservative  range  in  each 
case,  such  as  may  be  expected  from  average 
players  in  average  orchestras. 

A  few  explanatory  notes  on  each  instrument 
follow : 

PICCOLO.  The  lowest  octave  of  the  range  is 
weak,  the  tones  being  much  better  on  the  flute. 
The  best  register  is  the  second  octave.  Above 
that  the  tone  is  piercing,  and  can  be  produced  only 
in  fortissimo. 

The  piccolo  sounds  an  octave  higher  than  writ- 
ten. 

FLUTE.  The  best  register  for  quiet  solo  pas- 
sages is  the  middle.  The  upper  register  is  brilliant: 
The  lower  tones  are  little  used  save  for  special 
dramatic  effects. 

OBOE.  The  middle  register  is  capable  of  great 
variety  of  expression.  The  lower  cannot  be  had 
in  piano  or  pianissimo.  The  oboe  is  less  agile 
than  the  flute  and  clarinet.  Its  tone  is  peculiarly 
penetrating,  so  that  the  tones  given  to  it  in  a 
chord  for  wood-wind  instruments  stand  out  with 
special  prominence. 


102     THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 

ENGLISH  HORN.  Really  not  a  horn  at  all, 
but  an  alto  oboe.  Melancholy  and  sombre  in  its 
lower  register :  the  upper  little  used. 

CLARINET.  Two  clarinets  are  in  common 
use,  the  clarinet  in  B-flat,  and  the  clarinet  in  A. 
The  first  sounds  a  major  second  lower  than  writ- 
ten, the  second  a  minor  third  lower. 

The  lower  register,  called  the  "chalumeau"  after 
an  obsolete  wind  instrument,  is  peculiarly  full  and 
mellow.  Then  comes  a  break  in  which  the  tone  is 
dull  and  the  fingering  difficult.  Above  this  is 
more  than  an  octave  of  clear,  fine  tones;  as  the 
upper  limit  of  the  range  is  approached  these  grad- 
ually become  shrill. 

BASS-CLARINET.  Made  in  B-flat  and  in  A, 
like  the  ordinary  instrument,  but  sounding  an 
octave  lower.  The  lower  two  octaves  are  of  excel- 
lent, full  tone;  the  upper  register  is  seldom  used, 
being  better  on  the  ordinary  clarinet. 

The  bass-clarinet  in  B-flat  sounds  a  major  ninth 
lower  than  written. 

BASSOON.  The  bass  of  the  wood-wind  instru- 
ments. Lower  register  sonorous;  upper  good  for 
melodies,  though  somewhat  veiled  and  mysterious; 
highest  notes  thin. 

DOUBLE-BASSOON.  Used  only  for  bass,  or 
for  melodic  phrases  in  low  register. 

This  instrument,  sometimes  called  contrafagotto, 
sounds  an  octave  lower  than  written. 

HORN  IN  F.  The  horn  in  commonest  use  is 
that  in  F,  sounding  a  fifth  lower  than  written. 
As  the  "embouchure"  (tension  of  the  lips  and 
pressure  of  breath)  varies  for  different  parts  of 
the  range,  the  horns  are  arranged  in  pairs,  the 
first  horn  playing  higher  than  the  second,  third 
higher  than  the  fourth,  etc.  (See  the  chart.) 

For  the  lowest  notes,  the  F-clef  is  sometimes 
used,  but  the  notes  are  then,  rather  illogically, 
written  an  octave  lower,  so  that  instead  of  being 
a  fifth  higher  than  the  sounds  produced,  they  are 
a  fourth  lower. 


APPENDIX 


103 


Other  horns  sometimes  used,  and  their  trans- 
positions, are  as  follows : 

HORN  IN  B-Flat  Alto.    Sounds  a  major  second 

lower  than  written. 
"        "    A  Sounds    a    minor    third 

lower. 
"        "    A-Flat  Sounds    a    major    third" 

lower. 
"        "    G  Sounds  a  perfect  fourth 

lower. 
"        "    E  Sounds    a    minor    sixth 

lower. 
"       "    E-Flat  Sounds    a    major    sixth 

lower. 
"        "    D  Sounds  a  minor  seventh 

lower. 

"        "    C  Sounds  an  octave  lower. 

"       "    B-Flat  Basso   Sounds    a    major   ninth 

lower. 

TRUMPET  IN  B-FLAT.  The  B-flat  trumpet 
is  the  most  popular  with  players.  Like  the  horns, 
the  trumpets  are  arranged  in  pairs,  the  first  of 
each  pair  taking  the  higher  tones  and  the  second 
the  lower.  The  extreme  upper  notes  shown  on 
the  chart  are  difficult,  and  seldom  used.  A  few 
lower  tones  than  the  lowest  shown  are  possible, 
but  extremely  rare,  not  being  of  good  quality. 

The  trumpet  in  B-flat  sounds  a  major  second 
lower  than  written. 

Other  trumpets,  and  their  transpositions,  are  as 
follows : 


TRUMPET  IN  F. 

"    E 


Sounds    a    fourth    higher 

than  written. 
Sounds    a    major    third 

higher. 
1    E-Flat    Sounds     a     minor    third 

higher. 
"     D  Sounds   a  major   second 

higher. 

'    C  Sounds  as  written. 

'    A  Sounds     a    minor    third 

lower. 

The  higher  the  pitch  of  the  instrument,  the  more 
difficult  are  the  upper  tones. 


104     THE  ORCHESTRAL  INSTRUMENTS 

The  trumpet  has  unfortunately  been  supplanted 
in  many  of  our  orchestras  by  the  cornet,  an  in- 
strument of  inferior  tone,  but  easier  to  play.  The 
cornet  in  B-flat  has  practically  the  same  range  as 
that  shown  for  the  trumpet.  It  is  written  a 
major  second  higher  than  it  sounds.  The  A 
cornet,  a  half  tone  lower  than  the  B-flat,  is  of 
course  written  a  minor  third  higher  than  it  sounds. 
These  two  are  the  only  cornets  in  ordinary  use. 

TENOR  TROMBONE.  The  most  sonorous 
register  is  that  lying  just  above  and  below  middle 
C,  as  shown  on  the  chart.  Below  the  regular 
range,  after  a  slight  gap,  there  are  a  few  so- 
called  "pedal  notes." 

The  trombone  parts  are  written  as  sounded,  but 
for  the  higher  notes  the  tenor  clef  is  used,  which 
places  middle  C  on  the  fourth  line  of  the  staff. 

The  bass  trombone  has  the  same  range  a  minor 
third  lower. 

TUBA.  The  tuba  in  most  common  use,  some- 
times called  the  Bombardon,  has  the  range  shown 
in  the  chart,  is  used  as  the  bass  of  the  trombone 
choir,  and  is  written  as  it  sounds,  in  the  F-clef. 
There  is  also  a  "tuba  in  B-flat,"  or  Euphonium, 
pitched  a  fifth  higher,  and  a  Contrabass  tuba, 
pitched  a  fourth  lower.  The  "Serpent"  and  the 
"Ophicleide"  are  obsolete  instruments  which  used 
to  take  the  place  now  occupied  by  the  tuba. 

VIOLIN.  The  violins  in  the  orchestra  are  di- 
vided into  two  groups,  first  violins  and  second  vio- 
lins. Both  are  written  as  they  sound,  with  the 
common  G-clef. 

VIOLA.  The  viola  is  a  non-transposing  instru- 
ment, but  its  lower  notes  are  written  with  the  alto 
clef,  which  places  middle  C  on  the  third  line  of 
the  staff. 

VIOLONCELLO.  Violoncello  parts  are  writ- 
ten with  the  F-clef,  the  tenor  clef  (see  trombone), 
and  the  G-clef.  In  many  scores  the  notes  written 
with  the  G-clef  are  notated  an  octave  higher  than 
they  sound. 

DOUBLE-BASS.  The  double-bass  part  is 
written  an  octave  higher  than  it  sounds. 


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